Women That Laugh Too Often Are Suspicious and Annoying
by Mayonee-samurai
Summary: A woman appears out of nowhere and wants to join the Shinsengumi. Hijikata is not impressed by this obnoxious woman, and it seems she has made it her life goal to annoy him. Will this intruder destroy the Shinsengumi from inside out? A HijikataxOC
1. Trouble Usually Stumbles

**Hi everybody, thanks for checking this out! This is my first story so I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Please read to the end if you can XD I hope you enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gintama, it is owned by my savior Sorachi Hideaki, Sunrise and Shueisha**

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It was a blistering hot day in Edo, and the heat nipped at the men of the Shinsengumi while they trained within Headquarters. Leading the session was vice-chief of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toushirou. Paying the heat no mind, he practiced basic sword techniques to build strength; he showed a type of precision and deadly grace that can only be possessed by someone with a world of fighting experience. However, the ability to disregard the weather was not shared amongst the rest of the ranks.

"Vice-chief, can we finish for the day?" one of the new recruits whined. "It's so hot that my boxers feel like I have wet myself." He started fidgeting on the spot, trying to make himself comfortable. Some of the other men nodded and voiced their agreement.

"Shut it! I don't want to hear about your sweaty ass." Hijikata barked. He swiftly swung his body around, pointing his sword at them. His eyes shot discontentment at them and their protests came to a halt. The new troops trembled as the demon vice-chief walked towards the recruit who spoke out.

"If you have time to complain, then you have enough time to commit seppuku," His mouth lifted until his teeth were bared. "I could even help you with it. Yamazaki, how about you first?" Hijikata grinned while his sword searched for his victim.

"Why me?! I wasn't even protest-" Yamazaki screamed, but stopped as he noticed the vice-chief bolting towards him, ready to slice his stomach open. Yamazaki yelped, and quickly scrambled out the room, with barely enough time to spare as Hijikata struck the place where he stood a split second ago.

"Come back here now and let me kill you." Hijikata raced out of the room after him, while the rest of the men sank to their knees in relief that their guts remained intact.

Hijikata searched for Yamazaki all around the Shinsengumi headquarters, while muttering curses under his breath. The heat resulted in a raging headache, which beat against his skull relentlessly. Irritated, he walked to the front entrance, lent against the wall and lit up a cigarette. Slowly inhaling and exhaling the smoke, he felt his whole body relax as the nicotine sunk into his bloodstream. He observed his surroundings; the air shimmering with humidity, the clouds making a slow marching progression across the sky, and a giant deformed blob in the distance heading in his direction.

He snickered at his eyes forming the illusions and rubbed them vigorously. He opened them, but the distorted being was still trudging down the road towards the headquarters. Hijikata stared intensely at it, avoiding making any large movements, his breath barely more than a slight movement of air around his face, and his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. The afternoon sunlight forced him into a squint and he raised his hand to block the sun, but at that moment, the blob arranged itself into a strange crouching position, leaning forward with what looked like hands placed on the ground. It stayed perfectly still for a full minute, Just as he thought it upped and died, it ran towards him with the power of a rocket launcher.

"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooi you" Hijikata quickly tripped back behind the safety of the front gate as the speedy blob screeched to a stop, but lost its balance and fell on its face.

"Uh, what just happened?" Just a little bit stunned, he took a look at the motionless form on the ground, quickly realising that there was a person within the giant mass. The "blob" form was really just a shimmering material that covered them.

"Ow, that really hurt my nose." He heard a woman's voice muffled under the material. She whacked at it until it fell down in front of her. Hijikata stared at the revealed woman with a gaping jaw.

As the woman stood up, the weight of a large backpack caused her to stumble, her long ash-black hair and the white ears of her bunny hat swaying with the movement and her unruly bangs clung to her tan face. As she straightened herself up once again, she fixed up her jumper; an uncomplimentary cream coloured material with large pink block letters, exposing her shoulder as it slipped to the side so it sat on her body properly. The purple plaid mini skirt she wore; which oddly matched her red and pink vertical striped leggings, was still ruffled from the fall, but she paid no attention to it; muttering to herself angrily as she noticed that her misty blue combat boots were scuffed. She looked up and finally noticed Hijikata's presence.

She met his stare with an intense gaze; her eyes reflected the afternoon sun, the colour as warm as melted dark chocolate.

"What is it?" She spoke with a tone of a woman who thought she could conquer the world and she had a presence that matched. The woman smirked. "Do you find me devilishly attractive?" She placed her hands on her hips and burst out in laughter.

"Um, I hate to break it to you, but your nose is bleeding, at the speed of a rapid river."

"Oh," She paused, and her eager eyes dropped. "I thought it would be funny if you were a mega pervert so I could scream and run away." She pouted.

"Who's the mega pervert? What kind of retarded scenario are you trying to be a part of? And pay attention to your own body, clean yourself up!" Hijikata shouted, slightly feeling embarrassed at his reactions to this disturbance.

A little out of breath from yelling, he massaged his head as he felt the headache set back in. This woman was really starting to annoy him, especially with that look of complete and utter disappointment plastered on her face as she wiped the blood off. She definitely wasn't from around Edo. He was sure that she was that special type of idiot that would be easy to spot from a mile away, probably causing trouble for the townsfolk. He guessed from the size of her luggage, she wasn't travelling from anywhere local.

He sighed, "Well now that you have my attention, what do you want?"

For a second she looked a little confused, then realisation lit up her face. "Oh, yeah, I did call out to you didn't I?" She stifled a little giggle, "You looked pretty silly when you saw me running, like a deer before getting hit by a car."

"That's what happens when a crazy bitch runs at you as if her ass was getting munched on by hellhounds. Now tell me what you want, before I arrest you for pissing me off." His anger finally getting the best of him, he quickly pulled out another cigarette before he cut the woman down. He lit it up, ignoring the exaggerated coughing from the annoying woman.

"You're a cop? For real?" her surprise caused him to grit his teeth, practically gnawing off the end of his smoke.

"You must have lost the majority of your brain cells when you fell. You're standing in front of the Shinsengumi headquarters right now." She looked around her, finally noticing the carving on the side of the gate.

"What luck, I knew the 10th try would be the one that brings home the blue ribbon." She exhaled happily, bent down and picked up the sheet of material still lying on the pathway and placed it into one of the pockets in her backpack. Hijikata felt something in his stomach sink as the woman started walking towards Headquarters. He felt a slight tug on his sleeve and he noticed that she was pulling him along with her. She looked up at him and smiled cheekily.

"Do you mind being a darling and take me to see your chief? I have some business with him." As he dragged his feet as she pulled him along, he racked his brains of all the things that Kondou might have been involved in that could result in this mess of a female at the Shinsengumi's doorstep. There was no way in hell that she is from the government, and there was absolutely no chance that Kondou would have laid her. He glanced at her for a minute, watching the way she could drag a complete stranger into his own territory as if she belonged there. '_Wait a second_, _why was he letting her drag him around?'_

He yanked his arm away from her. "Hey, what do you think you're doing, prancing around the place?" the look she gave him could cut stones but he didn't even flinch. "I can't take you to see him until I know of your business here. Though you look like you couldn't save yourself from a paper bag, you could easily be acting and are planning an assassination, therefore-"

"Toushi, is this where you've been all this time? I have been looking for you." Interrupting Hijikata, Kondou Isao yelled out to him as he came from inside of the building.

"Speak of the devil." Hijikata muttered under his breath, eyeing the intruder as she watched Kondou walk towards them. He swore he saw a smirk spread across her face and at that moment he regretted his words. Before he could grab her, she bounded across the space separating her and Kondou and latched onto his arm.

"Oooh are you the Chief of the super awesome Shinsengumi? Wow, you're like, way more handsome than what I've heard." The woman cooed as she squeezed his arm and flicked her hair slightly. Kondou just stood and gaped at the woman mauling at him in amazement. It took at least a minute of dead silence before Kondou could even stutter a reply.

"Um, excuse me miss, can I f- I mean, can I help you?" Kondou's inability to contain his excitement only caused the woman to giggle and look up at him with glimmering eyes. Hijikata knew that he was doomed.

"Actually, I came all this way to see you, but that man, what was his name, Toushi was it?" She threw a swift glare at him; her lips pursed into what was supposed to be a grimace. "He tried to bully me out, even though I begged and pleaded." She placed her face into her hands, and shook her head as if she was trying to swat away the horrible memories of the past. Kondou placed a trembling hand on her shoulder. She wiped at her eyes and looked at him with a gentle smile.

"All I wanted was to talk to you, but if you wanted to send me away I would understand," She moved away from his hand and kicked at the ground. She turned towards him, "Someone like me has no right to demand alone time with someone as important as you, but I swear I'll make it worth your while." She reached out and slid her hand down his arm gently; letting her arm fall back to her side once her touch was finished.

"Don't worry, I would never even think of sending you away, miss." Kondou assured her, his eyes slowly moved to meet Hijikata's, the pleading stare almost pierced straight through him.

"Please reconsider, Kondou-san. We don't know this woman and she's extremely suspicious. Or at the very least let me stand outside in the case of anything turning sour." Hijikata sighed, knowing that he fell straight into the little vixen's trap. He assumed that she was just a clumsy moron, but in only a short few moments, she was able to gain a hold of the situation, even to the extent of sniffing out Kondou's desperation for a woman's touch. Forced into the role of the villain, anything he says from this point will be turned against him. '_A formidable opponent indeed. All I can do at this point is go along with it and hope that if she has ill intentions that she'll slip up.'_

She pulled at Kondou's arm, and held his eyes in a passionate gaze. "I know it's not right of me to demand any more of you, Chief, but if it's possible, I would like to have our conversation in private." She looked down and let out an embarrassed giggle. "I'm not sure how you run things here, but if you can accept Toushi's voyeuristic tendencies, I can too." Kondou burst into laughter which she harmonised with a light chirping laugh, and Hijikata slid his fingers down the hilt of his sword, itching to strike.

"Oh don't tease him miss, he's just doing his job." Kondou walked away from her and placed a hand on Hijikata's shoulder. "Toushi, there's no need to worry, I think I can handle one woman. Go handle those rowdy bastards inside while I tend to this, and I'll meet up with you later on." He walked back towards the woman, not before he turned back towards him while giving him a wink and a thumbs up.

Hijikata watched them leave together, Kondou leading her into the building. The woman, who was still keeping a firm grip on his arm with one hand, quickly turned around and gave Hijikata a sparkling smile and a slight wave with her spare hand before disappearing into Headquarters.

"That woman is going to devour him alive." He mumbled, walking back towards the training ground, hoping that he'll get to punch Yamazaki to rid some of this boiling rage.


	2. Don't Listen to Mages

It was a few hours later when Kondou called Hijikata into the meeting room. Feeling better after beating Yamazaki up, he slowly made his way to the room, meeting Okita Sougo in the hallway. Okita was leaning against the wall with his arms folded, his eyes dulled with boredom, slightly sparking as Hijikata passed him.

"Hijikata-san, did Kondou call you to the meeting room as well? Do you have any idea what he wants to talk about?" Okita kept with his pace, syncing up their steps. "You reckon he's firing you and promoting me? I bet that's it." He snickered. "This is going to be really embarrassing for you isn't it?"

"I don't know, maybe he has a raid planned out." Hijikata ignored Okita's taunts and walked into the room. He looked up and instantly halted, Okita smashing into his back.

"Geez Hijikata-san, I almost stabbed you up the ass with the hilt of my sword. These kinds of fetishes should be kept outside the work area." Okita whined and kicked him out of the way, spotting Kondou.

He was standing with his back towards them, conversing with someone Okita could not yet see. He was about to ask Hijikata what his problem was, but Kondou noticed them and turned around.

"Hey Sougo, Toushi. Thanks for coming." Kondou wore a strange expression on his face. His eyes were drooping as if all his dreams had escaped into another dimension, but they glimmered with the hope of a wonderful future. He grinned at Hijikata, who wasn't paying attention to him. "I'd like to introduce you to our new recruit."

'_Oh please God, anything but this.'_Hijikata was dumbstruck, as the woman from earlier stepped out from behind Kondou in one of the Shinsengumi uniforms. The jacket didn't fit her very well, hanging loose on her body, and coming up short at the bottom, exposing a thin slice of skin of her stomach. Her pants clung to her hips with the aid of a belt, but the bottom of the legs bagged on top of her new black glossy boots. Her hair was tied up in a high pony tail, which trailed down her back, her bangs loose around her face. He didn't notice until now; now that she was not wearing that horrible jumper, but even through the ill-fitting clothes, there was a hidden strength within her small stature.

She stepped forward, "My name is Nachi Natou. I have joined in order to learn and train in the ways of the Samurai. Please take care of me, Okita-senpai, Toushi-senpai." She smirked as she bowed, her familiarity causing Kondou to laugh.

"Now, now, Na-chan, you must treat Toushi with respect, or he might get upset." He shot a warning smile at Hijikata's tense posture. Kondou pulled Hijikata away from Nachi and Okita, who in just a few short seconds were immerged in a hushed conversation.

"Toushi, for a while, you'll be partnering up with her at all times, to teach her how the place works. Na-chan is from abroad, so even though she knows Japanese, she still needs to learn how to speak to her seniors." Kondou whispered; his tone brimmed with authority.

Hijikata swallowed back the protests that instantaneously rose up his throat, and spoke through gritted teeth. "Kondou-san, why did you let her join? She probably has no experience on the field, and I have no time to baby-sit a woman playing samurai." He seethed at the idea of spending another second with the newcomer.

"That is a little unfair; she was actually part of the specialist police force in her home town, and she has trained in the way of the sword." Kondou looked away from Hijikata's glare, and his cheeks reddened. "She was also, very, um, persuasive. In the end, it's a win-win scenario for both of us." A dopey smile spread across his face and he chuckled.

Hijikata shivered, "I don't want to know what happened while you two were gone, please. Did you even think about how the men would feel about a woman living with us? The poor girl will probably get molested in her sleep." He ticked off all the cons in his head, hoping that one of them will get her kicked out. Remembering how ditzy she was, he didn't even want to think about the havoc she would cause to innocent people if she had a sword in one hand.

"Oh she assured me that she'll be able to handle things like that, and I trust her strength, and I trust you." Kondou's hushed reply struck him like an arrow. "You will be sharing a room with her." Kondou swooped next his ear before he could complain. "Please Toushi, I have a good thing going here, can you please just do this one thing, for me?" His tone of desperation caused Hijikata to sigh.

"Fine, I'll watch her, but her safety isn't guaranteed in my hands, and I will not be responsible for her death." He forfeited his list and regrettably accepted the decision that will ruin the quality of his life from this point.

Kondou chuckled, oblivious to Hijikata's inner turmoil. "She does seem to like to make fun of you, but don't take it to heart, she seems like a nice girl. Look, she seems to be getting along well with Sougo." He left him standing there and walked towards the other two, who instantly stopped whispering as he moved closer.

"Kondou-san, her getting along with Sougo is the biggest warning flag." Hijikata's foreboding observation left unheard, he followed Kondou.

As he walked towards them, Nachi and Okita turned towards each other, sneakily shook hands, dropped them and feigned indifference. He knew that if he were to survive, he needed to keep those two away from each other, at all costs.

Kondou, seeming a little pleased with himself, walked towards Nachi and whispered in her ear. She grinned and nodded. Kondou waved at them before leaving with Okita in tow. Nachi walked towards Hijikata, stopping right in front of him, and saluted him.

"_Hijikata_-sensei, Kondou told me you will be the light to guide me through my training. I will treasure you as a teacher and be your loyal student, as long as you keep your sexual fetishes in check and don't peek on me while I'm on the toilet."

"Who would want to watch you take a shit?" He raised an arm and smacked her across the head, a satisfying thwack causing him to grin. She looked at him while rubbing her head, her lips twitching, slightly turning at the corners. Her reaction was unsatisfactory to him, so with pleasure of hitting her gone, he grabbed her by the scruff of her jacket and pulled her towards him. "Kondou left me in charge of you, so if you don't want to die, you better listen closely to every word I have to say to you." An idea popped into his head, his eyes lit with evil intent. "Where did you leave all your stuff?"

"I swear this is an abuse of your power, Hijikata-sensei." Nachi sulked as she watched him tip all of her stuff out of the giant backpack she brought with her. She sat on the edge of the veranda outside of the training quarters. The night had closed in to end the day, the moon reflecting its gentle light over the two of them, replacing the lost light of the stars, which were now hidden behind the light pollution produced by the terminal.

"A samurai does not find happiness in material possessions. I will allow you to have two spare changes of clothes, and your undergarments." He picked up one of the flimsy pieces of material on the ground. He smirked. "Is this even considered underwear?"

As he chuckled to himself, he didn't notice Nachi moving towards him. Before he could react, she launched herself as if she was a torpedo at him and somehow accomplished a head-butt with the force of her whole body.

"Sexual harassment missile!" She screamed, as the both they both crash landed on the ground. The both rolled around in pain, clutching at their heads. With what little strength he had, Hijikata smacked her across the head.

"What the hell are you thinking; do you want me to become stupid like you?" He growled, throwing the underwear at her. Ignoring her and the throbbing of his head, he continued to go through her stuff. Most of her belongings were dolls, utensils, post cards and masks; the majority of them in the shape of animals or had pictures of them.

"You're like the worst type of tourist, how did you even carry all this shit with you?" He shook his head as Nachi finally stood up.

"But, they are so cute." She pouted, snatching one of the little wooden dolls, this one in the shape of a dog. "You shouldn't make fun of a woman's belongings; cute things are what stop her heart from hardening into stone."

"I wouldn't believe that you have a heart, even if they ripped it out of your chest and showed it to me. You are the type of woman my mother told me to watch out for." Finally the bag was empty. The last item clattered noisily when it hit the ground. Hijikata looked down at the cause of the sound. It was a sword. He bent down to pick it up but Nachi swiftly pushed him, and with a skilful forward roll, she picked it off the ground and tumbled away.

"Oh? Even you have something special amongst this trash, I wonder if you can even handle that weapon." He turned towards her.

Surprisingly she didn't say anything, just sat there and hugged the sword with her eyes closed and a soft expression of melancholy adorned on her face. The sheath was decorated with cherry blossoms and small white bunnies, which danced around the branches as it crept up towards the hilt of the sword. The red string at the end of the hilt was attached to a small silver bell, chiming softly as it hung loosely.

Her trance broke abruptly, and she met his eyes and laughed. "Sorry sensei, but no one is allowed to touch this sword. If you do, I might accidentally kill you." The way her light hearted tone carried her threat somehow dragged a smile on to his face.

"I would love to see you try, woman." He leered. He watched her as she slowly stroked the sword gently as if it would break. The moonlight gave the illusion of a gentle woman holding her precious child.

He shook his head, trying to rid the image from his mind. "Gather up the clothing you want to keep, the rest of it is going in the trash." He kicked the junk on the ground into a pile.

"Hijikata-sensei, please delve into that tar pit you call a heart and let your cute new recruit keep all of her precious belongings." Nachi placed her sword down, picked herself up and stood in what seemed to be the crane stance. She waved her hands towards him and muttered under her breath.

"Are you trying to cast a spell on me?"

"A powerful one, this one will turn you into a kind sensei and rids your body of all perverted sexual fantasies. I met a mage on my way to Edo, and he thought I might find this spell useful." She walked towards him, stopping so she was standing with less than a metre between them, and resumed the stance. She stood perfectly still, staring straight at him. She held the stance in perfect silence.

"Shoryuken!" An uppercut socked Hijikata's jaw. His head snapped back, causing him to take a step backwards.

Nachi walked up to him, and waited until he finally was able to look at her. "Did the spell work?"

His shoulders shaking with rage, he walked towards the makeshift pile and drew his sword. "You tell me." he started cutting her junk and clothes to shreds.

She stood there and watched as her belongings were annihilated by her fuming sensei. His strokes were full of malice, and there was not a single slash that was a movement wasted. "Pssh, what a rip off, the spell didn't even work." She grumbled.

"The only thing you did was punch me in the face!"

"But it worked on the mage." Disappointment showed on her face for the second time today, and once again Hijikata wanted to cut it off. "He even went down on his knees and bowed to me, the ultimate form of respect for his student."

"Oi, I think you just knocked the mage out, and forget mage, I think he was just an old geezer who played too much Street Fighter." He was tired of falling into her pace, her stupidity bringing out his straight man quips remarkably quickly. He put away his sword and shot her a scowl.

"Clean the mess up, and let's head back inside." He walked towards the veranda, but got soccer tackled to the ground. He continued to lie there, watching the night sky, hoping that multiple suns would rise and set and send this woman away. Nachi got up, and looked down at him.

"Clean up your own goddamn mess, Toushi-sensei." The moonlight was caught on her snarling smile and her eyes, giving them an eerie luminescence. She held out a hand to him, her snarl softening to a grin. He took it, jumped up and followed through with what seemed to be now a trademark smack to her head.

"It might be the student's job to make a mess and for the sensei to clean it up. Though as samurai, we have an equal responsibility to clean up each other's messes." He walked back inside, leaving Nachi to stare at him.

"Hijikata-sensei, stop acting cool, it doesn't suit you!" She shouted after him, before bending down and picking up the debris.


	3. Pretend You Have Forgotten Your Wallet

"Hiji-sensei, where are we going?" Nachi groaned, rubbing her eyes. The sun rose a few moments ago, its light warming the air, even at this early hour. Hijikata and Nachi had left headquarters to start their morning patrol. He showed a little pity on her and decided to drive the patrol car, but her grumbling was getting on his nerves.

"Kabuki-chou. During days when there are no specific jobs, we just roam the districts in search for any Joui terrorists," He threw a few pieces of paper at her. They were wanted posters, with pictures of what seemed to be the Joui ring leaders. "Katsura Kotaro has often been spotted in Kabuki-chou, so even though I despise the place, we go there often."

"Why do you hate it there?"

Hijikata felt annoyed just thinking about it. "I hope that you won't get the chance to find out why."

They finally arrived, so they found a place to park the car and started walking. The sun finally sat lazily above them, so Nachi inspected the area as they walked in silence. The place smelt like garbage and booze, a few drunkards were scattered along the ground, unable to make it home during the night. It was too early for the shops to be open, so the streets were quiet and uneventful. Nachi stopped suddenly. She felt a familiar pang in her body, and she shivered.

"How much longer until the shops start to open?" Hijikata glowered at her. She was clenching her fists slightly, and her eyes flickered back and forth between the buildings.

"Not for another few hours, but even so, we are not here on a shopping trip." He watched her mutter under her breath, catching '_I don't think I'll make it'._He looked to the sky and prayed to the Gods that he will survive until the end of the day.

During the first hour, Hijikata explained the Shinsengumi's bushido to Nachi. A few more hours passed, and the heat was starting to get to the both of them as they trekked through the town. They both had a slight sheen of sweat over their exposed skin. The shops were opened and the streets were filling with the townsfolk. Hijikata kept a keen eye on any suspicious figures in the crowds, but it seemed like so far that it'll be another boring day on patrol.

_Thunk_

He turned around and noticed Nachi lying face down on the street. He quickly ran to her, assessing her body for any wounds. He blocked the views of the curious bystanders trying to sneak a peek at the woman on the ground.

"Hey, can you hear me? What are you doing?" No answer. _'Maybe she's passed out from the heat_', he thought as he shook her body. Her hand snapped out and grabbed his arm. The shock of the movement caused his to lean back, but she brought him closer to her. Slowly lifting her face up, her eyes were dull and lined with black bags. He looked at her dilated pupils and suspected a drug. Her face was now positioned right next to his ear.

"I…..need….sugar…" She croaked into his ear.

Hijikata watched as Nachi's face moved into an expression of delight as she ate her chocolate parfait, paying no attention to the bump growing on her head from when he hit her with the hilt of his sword. After he dragged her away from the crowd, they arrived at a café and he fed her, so he could stop her complaining. He feared for the reputation of the Shinsengumi with this woman around. He couldn't comprehend that someone could actually pass out from a lack of sugar.

"Oh? Hijikata-kun, what a surprise, I didn't expect you to be into dressing up your whores in your own uniform. Though I can understand, I am more a fan of nurse outfits."

'_Oh crap.'_ Hijikata closed his eyes, cursing the horrid turn of events as he turned towards that irritating dead-pan voice and opened his eyes.

Sakata Gintoki looked down at him while wearing a smirk. Nachi looked up at the newcomer and grinned at Hijikata. "Is he a friend of yours Hijikata-sensei?" She moved down the booth she was sitting in and invited Gin to sit. "I'm his cute new recruit, Nachi." Finished with introductions, she licked the dredges of her now empty parfait glass.

"Another two chocolate parfaits over here." Gin called to the passing waitress, and sat down next Nachi, keeping his gaze on Hijikata. "So the Shinsengumi has stooped so low to need a poster girl? I'll give you a tip, you need to get her to show more tits if you want the plan to work."

"She's more of a poster girl for domestic violence." He grimaced at the two idiots sitting together. Their parfaits arrived, and they both dug into it in perfect sync. "You can take her off my hands; all you have to do is stay out of my sight."

"How cruel, Hijitou-sensei," Nachi looked hurt by his words. "We were just starting to get along too."

"All you've done today is complain and embarrass me in public." He lit a smoke. "And don't forget you are shirking your duties while you stuff your face with sweets."

"Don't underestimate the power of sugar, Mayo-idiot." Gin snarled, as he tried to sneak a spoonful of Nachi's dessert, resulting in her stabbing him with her spoon. "I don't think I can take her, I already have a violent moody girl at home. A bitch would suit the Bakufu's dogs better, don't you think?"

Hijikata growled at the insult, but Nachi silenced him. "Don't worry Hijikata-sensei," She reached out and grabbed his hand; she looked at him and smiled. "I was planning to shirk my duties even if I didn't pass out."

"You shouldn't say that with a straight face to your vice-chief." He reached over and smacked her head.

She frowned. "Hmph, well I know when my presence is unwanted. Come back when you can fully appreciate me, Toushi-sensei." She stood up, and turned to Gin, who followed suit, and they both left the café together.

Hijikata exhaled in relief as the duo of morons left, and he was able to finish his smoke in peace. After a few minutes, he sighed exasperatedly. '_I better go catch up to her before she kills herself, or someone else.'_

He stood up to leave, but a couple of the waitresses swooped next to him, handing him a piece of paper. It was the bill.

"I will kill them." He swore to the Gods as he dug into his wallet.

He finally found her, still hanging with the silver-permed annoyance, in front of a lingerie store.

"Ah, Hijikata-sensei!" As she spotted him walking towards him, she beamed and she waved at him. "Gin-san was just showing me around the town."

"Why a Lingerie store? And just so you know, I'm going to get Kondou to take that bill out of your pay."

"Well if you recall, you destroyed all of my underwear last night. Gin-san was kind enough to come and help me pick out some new ones." She grinned at Gin, who turned towards Hijikata and gave him a cheesy smile and the thumbs up.

"You really shouldn't listen to that permed-pervert, and we need to go back on patrol." He scowled at Gin. He needed this guy to leave before he got any more stupid ideas that would hinder their work.

"But sensei, do you really want me to wear dirty underwear?" She looked at him in horror.

She turned to Gin and whispered. "I didn't think he was that kind of man, Gin-san. What has the Shinsengumi come to?"

Gin waved away her comment. "It was always just a bunch of horny men who couldn't get laid, so they are just releasing their frustration by swinging their swords around, instead of using the sword between their legs."

Realisation brightened her face. "That makes sense!"

"If you say another word I'll force you to commit seppuku." Hijikata grabbed her and dragged her into the store, leaving Gin behind. Nachi waved goodbye to him.

Two shop assistants greeted them politely as they entered. The store was large and brightly lit. There were rows of different coloured and sized underwear, ranging from innocent to the more raunchy type.

Hijikata had never been into one of these stores, but the way the shop assistants were whispering while failing at not staring at them was making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"I think I'll just wait outside. Quickly buy a few and let's leave."

"You're worse than a 13 year old boy trying to not look at the porn in the convenience store." Nachi laughed and grabbed his hand. "Come on, help me pick a few."

They slowly looked through the aisles, Nachi browsed, giggling at his reactions when she asked for his advice, and he couldn't help but blush. His new recruit seemed perfectly at ease dragging her superior around a Lingerie store. She left him to go try the armful of underwear she had accumulated, some of them being the ones he suggested unwillingly. He walked to the front of the store before she could come out and exhaled. He never knew how tiring it was to be around a woman while she shopped.

A few minutes later Nachi came out. She put away a few that she didn't like and brought the rest to the counter.

"Hey sensei, buy these for me. I don't have any money." She fluttered her eyes at him.

"You already made me pay for your sweets."

"But, you destroyed all of my underwear last night. The least you can do is buy some more for me." She gave a sly wink to the cashier, who looked at him and giggled.

"Don't insinuate such vulgar things," He groaned, "Oh fine, just this once." He took out his wallet and paid the cashier. The transaction finally finished, so he practically ran towards the door.

Nachi thanked the cashier and grabbed her purchases. She skipped after Hijikata and linked arms with him. He turned towards her, wary of the devilish grin that was spreading across her face.

"So, Hiji-sen, about those clothes you ruined.."

"A demon. You're a money-thieving demon." Hijikata shook his head, his pockets feeling lighter than they were this morning. Nachi hummed happily, swinging her freshly bought clothes along with the beat as they walked back towards the car. In the end, the only thing they patrolled was the inside of the clothes shops, and in between, he was forced to pull her away from the stores selling the kind of random crap that she seemed to love. To avoid this kind of problem again, he even bought her a large supply of wrapped candies to keep with her at all times. The day was already over, yet he felt as if he accomplished nothing, and lost everything.

"Today was fun Hijikata-sensei, almost like a date." Nachi laughed at the glare she could feel boring into her.

"I don't know what kind of dates you've been on, but it wasn't enjoyable for me or my wallet." He mumbled. Before he could go on about her inappropriate behaviour, his phone rang. He stopped, fished out of his pocket and answered.

Nachi watched him as he had a short conversation with the person on the receiving end. He hung up, and smirked. She looked at him with a curious expression.

"Let me take you out on my kind of date."


	4. Don't Forget to Clean Your Sword

As soon as they arrived back at headquarters, they quickly rushed to the meeting hall. Hijikata and Nachi were late, and most of the Shinsengumi were already there. Most of them hadn't seen Nachi before, so the men seemed unsettled and started whispering._'Thank the gods I told her to leave her purchases in the car.'_Hijikata didn't want to think of the shit he'd get for taking their first female recruit shopping on her first day.

He left her to go sit next to Kondou, watching her as she sat next to a bunch of new recruits, instantly starting a conversation with them. He wished he kept her with him; she was too much of a bad influence.

Nachi seemed to be enjoying herself, animatedly chatting with her new brethren, and they were all laughing at whatever she was talking about. She was pulling angry faces and waving her arms in the motion of a smack, and then laughing hysterically. Hijikata had a suspicious feeling that she was talking about him. He pushed the thought of punishing her and the troops to the back of his mind and tried to shrug off his agitation. After a few minutes, Kondou called for everyone's attention.

He stood up from where he was sitting. Everyone hushed as they waited for him to speak.

"Listen up guys, tonight we are going to raid the headquarters of the Joui faction known as the Amanto Purge Faction. From the data we've gotten, their base is in one of the large empty storage containers along the harbour." Kondou voice rung throughout the room, and everyone clung to his words as they tensed up.

"They are a minor faction; large in number, but the damage they have caused minimal. However, it is the duty of the Shinsengumi to exterminate any threat to our city and its government, so do not take this raid lightly. Captains, partner up your new recruits with the more experienced fighters. New recruits, follow your partners' example and stay close by."

Kondou grinned. "Let's show the Joui the strength of our Bushido." The recruits all shouted in agreement. Hijikata noticed that Nachi was the loudest.

Kondou waved at them to quiet down. "We leave in an hour, meet up with your divisions first to organise your new troops and prepare yourself for the battle."

As the captains gathered all their troops together, Kondou leaned over to Hijikata. "You will be partnering with Nachi. Make sure she doesn't get herself into any trouble."

"That in itself is an impossible task, but I'll try my best to not let her get killed." Hijikata sighed, and stood up to find the pain in his ass. He was eager to see her skills, preparing himself to pick up any slack, and use it against her if she ever tries to sass him.

The room emptied, but Nachi was standing at the doorway, waiting for him. Her eyes brimmed with anticipation. "So I guess it's you and me against the world," She winked at him. "Try not to get in my way, Hijikata-sensei." She was about to leave but he reached out and grabbed her hand.

"I'm not sure how experienced you are, or what kind of fights you've been involved in, but don't overestimate yourself, and don't overestimate me." His serious tone caused her to frown at him. "I will protect you with all of my power, but even I can't bring back the dead."

She laughed softly, her eyes held his with their warmth. "If there is one thing I am not planning to do today, Toushirou, it is dying." She smiled. "I could never forgive myself for unleashing that kind of burden on someone who is willing to protect me."

Hijikata couldn't think of anything witty to say to that comment. "Come on, let's just get this over and done with."

She smiled with her teeth bared, her eyes glowing with eagerness, but he noticed a hint of pure blood lust within them as well.

The Shinsengumi arrived at the harbour and set up their pre-battle formation. As vice-chief, Hijikata was to lead the raid, with the 1st Division and Nachi flanking him. 2nd and 3rd division were covering his rear and Kondou and the rest were to cover the opposite end to avoid any of the Joui escaping. Hijikata turned to face his comrades to check if they were ready to start the operation. The focused stares reassured him as he started to walk the small trek towards the Joui's hideout. The anxious silence continued until they reached the storage container and hastily moved into their positions. He could hear voices through the thick metal walls, and exhaled in relief that the information was correct. He indicated to the men to prepare for battle.

Nachi shivered, even though the humidity caused her jacket to cling to her skin. Her fingers clung to the hilt of her sword, the muscles unable to let go. She looked up at the sky, the darkness cloaking those planning the raid. _'How long has it been since I have unsheathed this sword?'_She couldn't remember. She was afraid that her body would let her down at the most crucial moment. Her nerves were prickling painfully, her legs feeling as if they were about to crumble under her weight. She closed her eyes, inhaling deep gulps of air. _'Just remember what he taught you,'_ her lips turned up at the edges, the light chimes of the bell soothed her as she finally unsheathed the sword which has slept for too long. She hummed softly, and waited for her moment.

A few of the men pulled open the heavy doors, revealing the terrorists' base. The inside of it was large, able to hold the sixty men within. They looked up as they realised they were surrounded on both sides, and scrambled for weapons. Hijikata unsheathed his sword. "We're the Shinsengumi. Surrender or be killed" He yelled, smiling as the Joui ran towards them. He quickly turned to check on Nachi as he charged forward, followed by the battle cries of his men, but all he saw was her speeding ahead of him, leaving behind a trail of sweet music.

Before he could tell her to wait, he engaged with the front line of terrorists. He blocked the force of his opponent's blade aimed to strike his heart with a quick flick, slashing down his chest left open from the parry. He continued looking for her, engaging and quickly disposing of anyone who stood in his way. He finally spotted her and it took all of his rationale not to stand there and watch.

She moved with light steps, her feet barely touching the ground as she swivelled and twirled through the crowd. She effortlessly blocked and parried her opponent's with her now glimmering red blade. Her arms moved in swift, gentle swoops, but they were misleading, as her sword always struck with surprising surety and strength. She leaped from enemy to enemy, her blade continuously moving with its artful strokes, her feet knowing its destination with complete confidence. '_She was dancing,'_Hijikata ran towards her, hoping that the enemy would be as stunned by her as he was and won't notice the glaring weakness of her fighting style.

By the time he reached her, most of the Joui terrorists were dead, or were dropping their swords in surrender. His brethren were already starting the clean-up, or taking the arrested back to the cars. He cleaned his sword on piece of cloth on the ground, sheathed it and placed a hand on Nachi's shoulder.

"Clean your sword, and let's go outside." He growled. She shrugged his hand off and turned towards him. Her eyes were glazed over but were gleaming with barely contained rage. Her breaths were short and jagged, almost as if she was gasping for air. Her eyes finally recognised him, and she shakily tried to rearrange her face into her usual composure. She took the cloth he was still holding and cleaned her sword.

"Sensei, what's up? How'd my first raid go?" She sheathed her sword, her failed attempt at a light tone caused him to furrow his eyebrows. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the storage container. She protested at his rough handling but he ignored her, and the stares of the men.

He let her go as soon as he found a quiet spot outside.

"You grabbed me so hard I'll probably have bruises in the morning." She grumbled, rubbing at her arm.

"What the hell were you doing in there?" He shouted at her and folded his arms as he glared at her.

She frowned, "My job? I cut down the terrorists. Wasn't that the mission?" She seemed to have calmed down now that she left the bloody scene, but Hijikata could see her shoulders were still were still tensed up, and her fingers were unconsciously moving back towards her sword. He noticed that her palms were raw and from her tight grip during the battle.

He sighed. "You were supposed to be my partner, but you ran off on your own,"

"I knew that I could handle it and I didn't want to trouble you, so I ran ahead." She refused to look him in the eyes, and blood was starting to trickle down her fingers. She clasped her hands together in an attempt to hide it, but the movement wasn't missed by him.

"I understand that you got out of there alive, but if there were more of them, or experienced fighters, you might not have been so lucky." He looked straight at her. "That fighting style of yours left your back wide open. Your flourishing strikes might have distracted them, but a skilled swordsman would've noticed immediately."

She stood in silence for a while, but suddenly giggled. "Ah, I guess you found out." Her eyes locked onto his hard stare and she grinned.

_Smack._

He rubbed his fist as she rubbed her head. "Idiot, why would you leave my side if you knew your back would be exposed? The first thing we will do in the morning is train. We will fix up that flawed style."

He moved back towards the container, but a flying rock hit the back of head hard. He spun around and glowered at Nachi, who was nonchalantly whistling in a manner he found suspicious. "Go back to the car, I'll meet you there." He walked off, leaving her behind.

As soon as Nachi got home she jumped into the bathroom to wash herself. While everyone was preparing themselves for bed, Hijikata quickly snuck all the stuff he bought Nachi into the room they were sharing together. He had finished setting up their futons before she came back in, with a towel wrapped around her and her hair hanging loosely in wet clumps. She looked refreshed, and was sighing happily. She saw him, smirked and turned back around.

"Kya! Kondou-san, a pervert snuck into my room and is trying to peek at me naked!" She squealed and tried to cover herself up with her arms.

"This is my room too, idiot. The clothes you extorted from me are on the floor. Put something on and go to sleep. We will be rising early to train." He walked past her and towards the bathing area.

After cleaning himself, he remembered something, and quickly dropped into the infirmary. By the time he got back to the room, Nachi was already sleeping soundly and lying on her back, eagle spread.

'_This woman has no class.'_ He poked her face to see if she would wake up. She didn't even twitch. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he knelt beside her, grabbed one of her hands, and took a look at the abrasions. They weren't too deep, but they looked sore. He took out the antiseptic and the bandages he grabbed from the infirmary and start cleaning her wounds. Her palms were soft and warm, but her long fingers were calloused from gripping her sword too tightly. He bandaged it gently but tightly, tying it around her palm, and finishing it around her wrist with a little knot. He moved over to her other side and starting cleaning her other hand. While he was working, he took a peek at her sleeping face. She slept with a similar expression to how she was when she was awake, with her mouth almost always twisting up into a smile.

"What a child," He muttered, but he smiled a little as he finished bandaging her hand. "Adults shouldn't smile so often, it just doesn't look right." He dropped her hand and moved to his own futon. He quickly fell asleep, purposely facing away from the sleeping Nachi. He didn't notice her adjusting herself, now lying on her side, with her freshly wrapped hands held close to her chest.


	5. Bets Are Similar to Promises

Despite what he said, Hijikata let Nachi sleep in. He ate breakfast and organised the rest of the men who were to go on patrol before going back to the room.

"Oi, wake up." He kicked at her softly, a small groan responded back at him. He continued, smirking at her as she started flailing her arms, as if she was trying to whack him, but couldn't muster enough strength to swat him away.

"Stoooooop it, senseei!" she sleepily muttered, she scrambled up, wrapped her arms and legs around his leg, and used her weight to topple him to the ground. He landed with a thump, and the air rushed from his lungs. He stayed still. Nachi, who was still clinging to his leg tightly, started to snore.

"Oh hell no," He twisted around into a better position, and kicked her head with his free leg. "Wake the hell up, idiot woman!"

"Geez Hijika-sensei, you shouldn't be so rough with women, or you will never get married." Nachi sulked, trying not to poke the now noticeable bump protruding from her head. Hijikata was thankful that she didn't mention her mysteriously bandaged hands, but her being grateful of him might make her easier to deal with. He was starting to think it was his fault her attitude was getting worse. _'Maybe I should stop hitting her so much,'_ He looked at her. She was still wearing her pajamas; a baggy t-shirt and some shorts, and was slowly munching at her breakfast, all the while whining about how he treats her. He shook his head. _'This woman was trouble the moment she left the womb.'_

"Shut up. We needed to start your training forever and a half ago, and you still haven't changed into your gear." He was just about to drag her away without finishing, when Okita walked in.

"Yo, how's your new pet going?" He sat down next to Nachi and poked her face repetitively. Nachi stopped complaining and focused on trying to bite his finger, but he was too quick for her.

"Horrible, he doesn't follow orders, he attacks his owner, and I bet if I looked around the room, there would be a puddle of urine in the corner." Nachi retorted.

"Who are you calling your pet, moron?" He was too tired to hit her, resting his head on the table, hoping it will all be over soon.

"I feel your pain, sister. I have tried my hardest to train him over the years, but he's too stubborn. You should just put him down." Okita looked at him, and reached for his sword.

Nachi grabbed his arm. "Hold it Okita-senpai, aren't you forgetting something?" She grinned at him slyly. "Pay up."

His eyes narrowed, "How many times?"

She thought about it for a little, counting on her fingers. "One, two, three, four…five. Five times." She seemed pretty pleased with herself.

"You could do better, but a deal is a deal." Okita reached and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out five 1000 yen bills and handed it to her. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."

She took it and stuffed it in her bra. "The pleasure is all mine, though I should be getting extra, since being with him decreases my life expectancy."

"What kind of seedy deal are you talking about in front of me?" Hijikata looked up at them. Nachi was grinning ear to ear, and Okita was looking at him with open hatred.

"Okita-senpai is paying me 1000 yen for every time I attack you." She chuckled as Hijikata's eyes shot daggers at them.

"You should pay me back for all those clothes I bought for you!" He yelled, regretting it instantly as Okita leered at him. He turned to Nachi.

"You're better than I thought. You have already gotten him to pay for your belongings." He stood up and bowed to her. "You are an inspiration, Nachi-senpai."

Okita skilfully dodged the bowl of rice that flew his way, courtesy of Hijikata, and to the horror of Nachi, who watched her food fly away.

"How mean!" A karate chop struck down on Hijikata's head. Okita quickly drew out another 1000 yen, threw it at her and ran away, snickering.

"We're going to go train." He got up and walked towards the dining hall exit, turning around to make sure that she was following him. She looked at her unfinished food regrettably, grabbed the extra bill and shuffled after him.

Nachi finally changed into her training gear, so they walked to the training quarters in silence. Once they arrived, Hijikata grabbed two of the wooden practice swords sitting in the corner. He beckoned at her to come and take one.

"Last night I saw the flaw in your fighting style, but to get a full understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, we need to spar with killing intent." He moved away from her, prepared himself and waited. She bounded to her spot. She frowned as she turned to him.

"Are you positive that I can come at you at full power?" He didn't know whether he should find the worried look on her face funny or annoying.

"I'm sure, it will just hurt whoever gets hit." He sneered at her. "I can pay you back for hitting me for money."

Her face lit up. She sauntered up to him with a sly grin on her face. "Let's make this more interesting. How about a bet, Hijikata-sensei?"

He tensed. "This sounds ominous. What do you get if you win?"

Her eyes closed in thought. "You buy me 3 new outfits and a month's worth of parfaits. You're not allowed to hit me anymore and you must call me Nachi-sensei for a whole week." She nodded and giggled to herself. She opened her eyes, which were glistening with excitement. "What do you get if you win?"

"Why must everything you do involve money?" He shook his head. He silently thought of what he could extort from her. _'There probably isn't a thing that would embarrass her, and that would backfire on the Shinsengumi's reputation as well.'_

"You aren't allowed to hit me and receive payment from Sougo for the hits. You must buy me a month's worth of meals. You must obey all of my orders." He couldn't help but smile at her when he thought of one more. "You must let me touch and look at your sword."

Her face dropped, and he saw a flare of anger in her eyes, but she quickly extinguished it and burst into laughter.

"That sounds about fair," She put her hand out. "It's a bet?"

He grasped it, and shook it firmly.

"We will play by first strike rules, no grabbing or kicking, only swords." He and Nachi moved back into position, and readied their stances. They held each other's eyes in a restless embrace, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Nachi left her position first, sprinting towards him with her sword by her side. She leapt high, her sword raised above her head, and struck down. Hijikata blocked it, reinforcing his sword with his spare hand. _'I can't underestimate her strength_.' He thought as he pushed her sword away with all his strength, and followed through with a forward jab to her stomach. She quickly regained her composure and used the force from his block to push herself back away from him, landing on the balls of her feet. His attack struck her sword, placed precisely in the spot he was aiming for. She jumped back, her sword covering her chest, and jumped forward with a jab of her own. He pushed it away with a flick to the side, but she used it to bring her sword up to strike his neck from the side. He ducked and struck upwards, but her sword promptly blocked low, meeting his before he could hit her.

She twirled out of the block and stepped back. He followed her with a combination of jabs, which she blocked with her well placed sword. He jabbed one last time, ready to strike her legs when she blocked it, but she sidestepped around his left, the momentum of his jab forcing him forward. _'Shit, I'm wide open.'_ Nachi brought her body around to his back, her sword about to swing down. He twisted himself painfully to face her again, landing in a squat. He launched himself at her, his sword aiming between the opening left by her downwards strike. Their eyes flashed at each other, both of them intent on winning. Neither of them was going to back down from their own final strike. _'Who will be faster, you or me?'_

His sword hit her chin, and she flew backwards, landing hard on the floor. He tried to slow his heart beat down while walking towards her. She seemed to be knocked out cold.

"Hey, go get an ice pack." He yelled at the door. It wasn't until the fight was over that he noticed that there was a gathering around the hallway and outside on the veranda, trying to sneak a peek at their match. "The rest of you, go back to work or I'll knock you all out." He pulled out a smoke as he waited for his request and listened to the men scramble away.

One of the recruits chucked the ice pack at him. He caught it and knelt down to place it on her chin. It had swelled up a little, leaving an ugly black bruise. _'Boy am I going to get some shit from her when she wakes up.'_He held the pack on the wound. He looked around to make sure all the guys had left. Once he was sure they were all gone, he dropped the pack, and started pinching Nachi's cheeks.

"Pretending you're knocked out is not the way to catch a few extra minutes of sleep."

"Ow, it hurts sensei, please stop." She giggled as he let go, but stopped suddenly and grabbed her chin. She opened her eyes and gave him a depressed look. "It hurts to laugh."

"Good, I was getting sick of hearing noise come out of your mouth." He handed her the ice pack. She sat up and put it against her face. "Let's a break, we'll start a proper training session afterwards." He smirked. "And you can take me to see your sword."

She groaned, "Oh the bet, I forgot about that."

He held his hand out to her. She grabbed it and he helped her up. "I will never let you forget it." He grinned, not realising that their hands lingered in each other's for longer than necessary.

Nachi flopped onto the floor as soon as they got back to their room. Hijikata lent against the wall, tapping his foot.

"Come on, a deal is a deal. Give me your beloved sword."

She jumped up and covered his eyes. "You're not allowed to know where I hide it." She looked suspiciously around, apparently for spies.

He grabbed her head and pushed her away. "It's sitting in the corner, idiot. I was being polite and waiting for you to give it to me, but if you plan on being difficult, I'll do it myself." She whined at him to stop but he continued towards her sword.

The little bell rung as he picked it up and he examined the sheath first. The paintings were small, but detailed, the cherry blossoms glittered like little pink diamonds from the way the light hit the lacquer. He gently pulled the sword out, and placed the sheath on the ground. The alloy used in this sword was lighter than his, allowing it cut through the air faster, but lacking in brute strength. Though after watching it in action last night, he was assured it could do its job efficiently. _'It's perfect for her fighting style.'_

He turned to her, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, moping. "Did you get this custom made to suit your style?"

She shook her head. "The man who made that sword was also the man who taught me to fight." She looked uncomfortable, so he decided to leave it there. He sheathed the sword and gave it back to her. She beamed as she held her sword, whispering nonsense words at it.

"I might not know the story behind this sword, but at least I know that you have a decent weapon, and that's all that matters. The sword might be the soul of a samurai, but it's the samurai that first has to give his sword life." He waited for her to pick herself up. "Now it's time to learn how to fight as a samurai, and as a member of the Shinsengumi."

It was getting dark when Kondou and Okita came to see the pair training. Nachi was lying on the ground, refusing to get up, and Hijikata was prodding her with his wooden sword.

"We had a deal; you're supposed to follow every one of my orders." He scowled, even though he knew that this was bound to happen.

"But, you didn't even let me have a sugar break, Hijikata-sensei." her voice muffled by the floor.

Kondou laughed, "You two seem to be getting along fine, but Toushi it's time to give Na-chan a break." Nachi almost snapped her neck with the speed she lifted her head up. _'If she was a dog, her tail would've been wagging.'_ He wondered if training a dog would be easier.

"You are going on night patrol with Sougo, Toushi. Na-chan will be coming with me." Kondou continued, slightly blushing, and Hijikata swore he heard a stifled giggle.

He looked from Kondou to Nachi, who now looked ecstatic. "Where are you two going?" They looked way too suspicious looking at each other and trying not to giggle.

Okita walked up to Hijikata and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Hijikata-san. I know it's hard to watch the alpha dog take away your bitch, but that's just the rules of the wild."

"Someone please take this guy away for good." He pleaded, watching as Kondou and Nachi walked away together, chatting enthusiastically.

"If you pay me, I can pretend that I'm her and you can attempt to bone me and fail." He side stepped the sword striking where his head once was, and walked out of the room. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, sensei."

He almost missed Nachi.


	6. Always Tip Your Waitress

It was early in the morning, and the streets were finally starting to quiet down. Hijikata and Okita were driving around in the patrol car, waiting for something to happen. The only thing they found that was worth them stopping all night was a drunken brawl on the street.

"Hijikata-san, let's just go back. I doubt anything will happen, so Kondou will understand." Okita was drumming his fingers on the dashboard.

Hijikata was just about to agree, when his phone started ringing.

"Kondou-san?" he answered as he picked up.

"Ah, Toushi. Do you mind driving to Kabuki-chou and picking Na-chan up from the place under the Yorozuya? I can't get there so it'll be great if you can do it." From the way he was whispering, Hijikata assumed he was at the Snack Smile.

"Why the hell is she in Kabuki-chou?"

"What kind of trouble is woman getting herself into?" He muttered as he got out of the car. Okita stayed there while he went into Otose's Snack House.

"What kind of business do the police have in my shop?" The owner, Otose asked from behind the bar.

"Nothing official, I'm just looking for one of my recruits. I was told she was here." He craned his neck to see if he could spot her.

"She? Oh you must be talking about Nachi-san." She sighed. "She's passed out with the other drunkards in the booth over there." She pointed to the furthermost booth.

He walked over there and found her. She was indeed passed out, sitting upright with her mouth open and a slight trail of drool running down her face, her hair was out of its usual pony-tail and hanging messily around her. He didn't notice her before, because instead of her uniform, she was wearing one of the dresses he bought her. It was a bright red one that clung to her torso and flared out in waves of material at the hip, with a low cut v-neck that revealed her chest. She also wore a black coat over her dress. Gin was also there, lying face down on the opposite chair, presumably also down for the count. A dirty looking man was snoring with his head on Nachi's shoulder. The table was covered in empty sake bottles and spills.

He went over to her and lightly tapped her face. "Hey drunk woman, it's time to leave."

"No Gin-san, you can't touch there, you pervert!" She snapped a punch into his face. She hiccupped and opened her eyes. "Oh, it's Tou-sensei." She laughed hysterically while stroking the spot where she hit him. "Sorry, I thought you were silver."

"I didn't even try and touch you, you Shinsengumi skank. Don't wear revealing tops if you can't handle a grope or two." A muffled snarl came from Gin's direction.

She didn't bother to reply, and turned back to Hijikata, and reached her arms towards him. Her eyes were half closed, and she had a dopey smile on her face. "Give me a piggy back."

"No freaking way. If you can walk, do it." He moved away from her. She pouted, but tried to stand up anyway. The man on her shoulder slipped off and his head fell on to the booth. She got to her feet, but wobbling as if her legs were jelly.

She raised her arms above her head. "I did it! Yay." She yelled, before falling forward. He quickly grabbed her before she hit the ground face first.

"Fine, I'll carry you, but don't tell anyone." He placed her on one of the spare booths, and set himself up for the piggy back. She giggled the whole time, latching herself around his neck. He lifted them up, wrapping his arms around her legs.

He turned to Otose, "Sorry for the mess the woman caused. I hope we can keep this between us and not spread it around."

Nachi piped up. "Otose-san, I have something for you." She reached into a pocket and pulled out her wallet. She handed a bundle of bills to her. "I hope that's enough to pay mine, Gin-san's and Hasegawa-san's bill. If there is any left over, please give it to Hasegawa-san." She smiled brightly. "Thank you for serving us. I had fun so I might come back."

Otose laughed. "There is no way this could pay those good-for-nothing's tabs off, but I'll see that there is some left over." She turned to Hijikata. "You look after her, and I'll see to it that the image of the demon vice-chief that piggy-backs drunken recruits doesn't spread. She looks like she's been beaten down already." Nachi waved at her as they left.

"Now, can you tell me what you are doing here?" He was about to let her down, but then he noticed something. The car was missing. "That bastard.." He growled.

"Hey, sensei, can we go to the park? I want to lie down." Nachi whined, digging her face into his shoulder.

He sighed. "Fine, but you're walking once we get half way."

They trekked towards the park, Hijikata trying to ignore the now sleeping woman on his back. Once they got there, he dropped her onto the bench, and sat down next to her. She stayed asleep, resting her head on his shoulder, while he thought of a way to get home. After a few minutes, she woke up. She rubbed her eyes, and turned to him. "Morning, Tou-sensei."

"It's still night, but now that you're awake, spit it out. I thought you were supposed to be with Kondou." She stretched herself out onto the bench, with her head on his lap.

"I guess Kondou-san didn't tell you." She laughed at the thought. "We had a deal. When I first came to the Shinsengumi, he promised he would let me in, as long as I do one thing." She looked up at him, "He wanted me to go to a cabaret club once a week, and talk him up to this one girl. He pays me to do it too" She tried hard not to giggle. "Otae-chan thought it was weird that a woman came in to see her, but we got along well, and Kondou promised he would also buy all our drinks."

Hijikata couldn't believe it. It sounded like something Kondou would do but doesn't he realise he's giving this woman way too many benefits? Obviously not.

"Well, how did you get away from Kondou?"

"Gin-san and Hasegawa-san came to visit too, and since they couldn't afford to stay there, we left to go drink more at Otose's." She snuggled into his leg, causing him to tense up. He hadn't even noticed how much he was letting this woman touch him, though if he was honest with himself, he didn't really want her to stop.

He pretended to cough, to cover up his awkwardness. "So, did you sleep with Kondou?"

Nachi stared at him in horror, before breaking into loud choruses of laughter. She clutched at her stomach and rolled back and forth. Her rolling caused her to fall off the bench. She landed face first, but she still didn't stop laughing, now muffled by the ground.

"Shut up, idiot." Hijikata felt a flush heat up his face. He crossed his arms and waited for her to stop.

She finally stopped laughing. She wiped the dirt from her face and the tears running from her eyes. She sat up, propping her head on his knees.

"Sorry, sensei, that question was too funny coming out of your mouth, I couldn't help it." She pushed her head into his legs to stop the fresh laughter coming up from her throat.

She took a few deep breaths and looked back up at him. "No, I didn't sleep with Kondou. It was all an act because you wouldn't get off my back."

"Well I couldn't just let a weirdo like you to go see the Chief." He sighed, letting his arms fall to his side, feeling as if a load was let off his chest. Nachi noticed the exhale, and swiftly climbed up on to his lap.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Hijikata tried to sound harsh but it came out as a weak groan. She had straddled him, her body pushed close enough to his that he could feel the warmth of her skin from under her dress. Her hair formed a curtain around them, draping lightly on his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his neck, wearing a smirk.

"Was that sigh of relief I heard, Tou-sensei?" She dropped one the arms around his neck, she grabbed one of his hands with hers, and guided it to her hip.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He avoided her gaze, knowing that the moment he looked into her eyes, it'll be over.

"Don't lie to me. You seemed pleased that Kondou hadn't touched me, the way that we are touching now." Another hand moved his remaining hand to her hip. He let himself move his fingers slightly, feeling her curves under her clothes.

"What you and that gorilla do together mean nothing to me. Now get off."

She reached her hands to his face, and forcibly turned his head towards hers. Her chocolate eyes were brighter than the moon itself, betraying her emotions as always. But this time he couldn't bear to look away from them, as they tempted him to taste what he wanted to.

She moved her hips a little, trying to get comfortable, but the pressure of her sitting on him was almost too much.

Her face moved closer to his, her eyes still captivating him and her hands holding him with no chance to escape. Her lips stopping a hair width away from his, but he could feel the heat radiating off them. She whispered, almost inaudible, but his whole body yearned to hear it. "I'll let you have what he couldn't." She closed her eyes and moved her lips closer, prying his open a little with her tongue.

He moved one of his hands up her back, feeling the strength of her pushing herself against him, while the other wrapped around her waist. As his hand reached the back of her head, she moved her arms back around his neck. He closed his eyes and he pushed her head towards his, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues moved together, tasting each other. Hijikata's hand ventured down her waist, resting it just above her ass. Nachi moved a hand through his hair, feeling the softness as she pushed her head closer, forced his tongue deeper. He pulled away from her, catching his breath. She was breathing heavily, but she smirked.

"You taste like cigarettes."

He sneered at her. "And you taste like booze."

Nachi let his head go, reaching into a pocket. He looked at her with confusion, as she pulled out a small wrapper. A candy. She popped it into her mouth and sucked on it. She guided him with her arm, so he was now lying down on the bench, with her on top of him. She spat the candy on the ground.

"Hey, littering is a crime." He frowned at her, but she just laughed as she crawled up so her face was above his.

"You know what's also a crime? Public indecency. But I'm not stopping any time soon." She dipped her tongue into his mouth. He sucked at the sweetness of the candy on her tongue, while using his hand to push her hips against his. Her arms formed a small cage around his head and they explored each other's mouths.

_Bzzzt._

Nachi pulled away from his mouth, releasing a small sigh, and fumbled around his pockets, until she pulled out his phone. She gave it to him, while smiling at him.

"Sougo, where the hell are you?" He tried his hardest to yell, but it was difficult with Nachi sitting on him.

"I would like to ask the same thing of you, Hijikata-san. Where are you?"

"I'm at the park, just a few minutes away from where you ditched us."

"Oh, I'm close, I'll be there in 2 minutes." He hung up.

'_He didn't even deny that he ditched us,_' Hijikata pushed Nachi off him and onto the bench. He looked at her.

"Pretend to be asleep. The trip will be easier, trust me." She gave him a salute, and instantly her head lopped to one side, her face in a perfect sleep expression. He lifted her into his arms and walked to where he would meet Okita. Nachi was gripping his jacket, so he could feel the heat of her hand on his chest.

"Man, I have been looking for you all over." Okita called from the window at the entrance of the park. He stared at the sleeping Nachi in his arms.

"Wow, she must've gotten really drunk. I hope you didn't do anything to her while she was out."

"What are you saying, Idiot? I'm not Kondou." He opened the passenger seat and strapped her in, hoping that Okita didn't see the flush that was covering his face. He closed the door and ran around to jump into the front seat. Okita sped off back towards Headquarters without questioning him, but the quick glances he gave him while he drove gave him a bad feeling in his gut.

He dumped Nachi in the bathroom. "You better wash yourself before bed." She yawned, stretching her arms out wide. She looked at him suggestively but he turn-tailed and ran out.

He set up the futons as far away as possible. Angry at himself that he'd been reduced to a petty teenage virgin; he moved them back to where they should be. He hid around the corner closest to the bathroom, waiting for her to get out. When she did, he slipped into the bathroom, without her noticing.

He didn't know why he was being so jittery. Once he finished cleaning himself, he got changed into his yukata, took a deep breath and went back to the room.

She had already slipped into her own futon and was asleep. He thanked the Gods that she seemed to be tired all the time. He turned the light off and slipped into his futon. The moonlight shone through the window, allowing him to see her perfectly even in the dark. He turned away from her, and settled in for the night.

Just as he thought he could sleep restfully, he heard the rustle of a blanket, and the heat of an arm wrapping around him, pulling him towards a warm body.

"You were trying pretty hard to avoid me, sensei. It was kind of cute." Nachi whispered next to his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. She placed little butterfly kisses on the back of his neck, slowly leading up to his ear. She nibbled on the lobe, using her tongue to bring it to her mouth, sucking it slightly.

He flipped himself around, so he was now hovering over her, his arms and legs separating their bodies. "What do you think you're doing?" His gaze lingered over her. _'Oh no.'_ She was wearing the lingerie he picked for her. The bra was a bright blue lace, a nice contrast between the dark colour of her skin. Her breasts were pushed up by the bra, giving them a tantalising shape. He couldn't see them, but he just knew she was wearing the matching underwear.

She laughed softly. "I couldn't leave what happened in the park unfinished." She gave him a sensual smile. "Don't you want to pick up from where we left off?"

"We aren't in the park anymore; the walls have ears in this place." He eyed the door, making sure it was shut properly.

She dragged him closer, the weight of his body now pressing down on her. "Well then, we'll just have to be quiet," She touched his face, trailing her fingers gently across his lips.

He bared his teeth at her. "Is that a challenge?" Her grin answered for her.

They stayed still while they caught their breath. He watched her; sweat glistening on her face, her cheeks reddened, her soft pants as she sucked in air, and her lips turned up into a tiny smile. It was a rare gentle expression, much different to her usual boisterous appearance, but they both suited her well. He fell away from her, lying next to her on the futon. Nachi wriggled towards him and wrapped an arm around his chest, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Move to your own futon, you're hogging all the room." But when he turned to her, she had already fallen asleep. He sighed, and pulled her closer, guiltily enjoying the reassuring sound of her faint breathing.

* * *

**Hey guys! Just so you know, there is a lemon for this chapter (An Annoying Woman With a Side of Lemon). It is explicit, and it is not necessary for the story that you read it, but if for the sake of Hijikata and Nachi's romantic development, I would suggest you read it if you're okay with a little bit of smut. Hope you're enjoying it so far!**


	7. Go Out and Try Something New

The brightness of the sun shining on Hijikata's eyes woke him up. He groggily attempted to get up, but was held by Nachi's arm pinning him down. She was still fast asleep. He lightly placed her arm away and slid out of the blankets. He put his yukata on and walked out.

He walked towards the dining hall, when he noticed a gathering in the meeting hall.

He didn't know what time it was, but there shouldn't be so many people neglecting their patrol. It looked a little suspicious, so he turned into the room to find out what was going on.

The majority of the troops were crowded around the whiteboard used for strategic illustrations. They were discussing something to each other in serious tones. _'Another raid?'_ He tried to read the words on the whiteboard, but his eyes were still stupid with sleep. It took a minute for the heading on the board to sink in, but once it did, the colour left his face. He pushed through the recruits until he got to the front.

"The man of the hour. Let's give a hand to the man who will settle this, Vice-chief Hijikata!" Okita was standing in front of the whiteboard, joining in with the cheers of the crowd. Hijikata briskly stepped towards Okita and grabbed him into a headlock.

"Sougo, what is this?" He hissed into Okita's ear.

"Morning, sleepyhead. The boys and I were just having a little bet, but everyone else got really into it as well, so now it's a huge event." Okita was holding a cardboard box full of bills. He turned to the recruits. "Final bets have closed!"

"Why does the bet have to be about Nachi's tit size?!"

"We know that she uses tape to wrap them up, so no one could tell the real size. The original bet was how long it would take you to lay her, but we all agreed that it would be never." He smirked. "Boy, we were wrong."

"You want me to kill you?" He tightened his arm around Okita's neck.

"Mercy, mercy Hijikata-san!" He tapped at his arm until he loosened his grip. He took gulps of precious air. "So, what was the size?"

"I wouldn't know!"

Okita shot a malicious grin at him. "Oh really?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out some photographs. "If that's the case, you wouldn't mind me spreading these around Headquarters?" Hijikata looked at the photos in his hand, and almost choked on nothing.

They were photos of him and Nachi at the park. He glared at Okita. "So this is where you were when you ditched us? You do understand I could arrest you for blackmail."

Okita thought about it for a second. "That is true, but even if they believed you, your reputation would still be ruined."

"You are a horrible person." He groaned at the expectant look on Okita's face, and whispered into his ear.

Okita broke Hijikata's hold and stood up straight.

"Everyone, the results have finally been released. And the winner, at 10D, is," He checked the board. "Yours truly, Okita Sougo."

A chorus of howls of disapproval broke out.

"Now get back to work." Hijikata growled. They complained bitterly as they marched out.

"What was all that noise about?" Only wearing a shirt and her underwear, Nachi strolled through the doorway. Hijikata tensed up at the thought of her uncontrolled rage at the men's lewd bet.

"We just finished the ongoing bet about your breast size." Stated Okita. "I was the only winner."

Hijikata smirked at the thought of Okita getting the brunt of her wrath as she moved towards him.

"Good. Now, as promised, give me half, and no being stingy."She looked pleased. Hijikata gawked at them as Okita took out the winnings and attempted to split it evenly with her.

"You knew about this the whole time?!" He stared in disbelief at the two of them.

She blinked at him. "Of course. How else would Okita-senpai have won?" She counted the bills as Okita handed them to her. "I needed another source of income since I lost the rights to acquire money off hitting you."

"How about you earn money honestly by working?!" He smacked her across the head.

"Now, now, Hijikata-san, that isn't a nice way of treating the person who let you sheath his sword in her." Okita tutted at him. Nachi giggled.

Hijikata grabbed their heads and smashed them together.

"I can't deal with you two this early in the morning." He moaned in self-pity. He started walking away, but Nachi piped up.

"Hijikata-sensei, don't forget about our date!"

"I don't remember anything about a date." He left the two behind and exited the room.

"Oh by the way, I promised Na-chan that you would show her around the city, so I gave you both a day off." Kondou inform Hijikata as he sat down next to him in the dining hall.

"Kondou-san, you shouldn't spoil her so much. She has barely done a minute of work since she's gotten here." He tried his best to ignore the dejected pouts that Kondou was pulling while he pushed his food around with his chopsticks.

"From the sounds of it, you were spoiling her far more than I have." He grumbled. He turned to him. "So, how was it?"

"How the hell has it spread this much? And this is not something I want to talk about with you."

He banged his fists on the table. "Toushi, you're being unfair! First you shag the only girl whose shown interest in me in years, and then you won't even tell me how it was!" He sniffled and wiped his eyes, trying to hide the tears threatening to fall. He attempted at holding his gaze with his puppy dog eyes, but Hijikata couldn't bear to look at him. "Hey, maybe you could convince her to do the horizontal tango-gorilla style, I beg of you."

"Convince her yourself. There are no words I could say that would get her to have sex with you." Thankfully, he'd finished his meal, and got up to leave. He dodged Kondou's arms trying to reach out and grab him, the tears now flowing freely down his face, and he walked back to his room.

"Toushi, I thought we were friends!" Kondou cried after him.

'_That woman is an evil temptress, and I fell for it.'_He whacked his forehead with the palm of his hand_. 'I really screwed myself over last night. I can't let her control me. This is for the reputation of the Shinsengumi.'_He had changed into his casual clothes, and was now searching for Nachi, who had seemingly disappeared into the aether. The brightness of the day stung his tired eyes as he shuffled out of Headquarters. He ended up finding her leaning against the front gates.

She wore a plain white midriff, complimenting the curves of her toned waist. Her baggy cargo pants shifted loosely on her hips as she turned as he came closer and waved at him, her hair getting caught up in the breeze. The clothes were little too normal for her, only because Hijikata refused to pay for the crazy outfits she originally wanted. _'She looks cute"_ He couldn't help but think it. He shook his head and slapped his face lightly, ridding himself of any inappropriate thoughts that conjured up as he watched her run towards him.

"Sorry, did I make you wait long?" His voice gruff as he cleared his throat in an attempt of appearing casual.

Her cheeks puffed out as she held back a torrent of giggles. "Now it really does sound like a date." She swallowed them and sprinted past the gate, skipping down the street. "Hurry up, sensei! I want to see everything!"

"Slow down, I am not going to try to keep up with you." He groaned, thinking of how much energy it will take to cope being around a hyperactive idiot with the attention span of a three-year old.

"Are you hungry, Hijikata-sensei?" Nachi mumbled as she spoke with her mouth full. She was munching on a super chocolate strawberry crêpe they saw advertised on the side of the road. Nachi almost fell flat on her face tripping on her own feet as she ran back to buy it. They had been wandering around aimlessly for an hour, and he was thankful for an opportunity for a break.

"Yeah, let's go to the ramen shop just down the road."

The shop was practically empty as they walked in. The owner welcomed them with a smile and invited them to take a seat. Hijikata ordered as they sat down and waited silently, the only noise coming from Nachi's loud chewing. He gritted his teeth at the sound.

Before he could knock the sweet out of her hand his order finally came. He blew a breath of relief, whipping out the mayonnaise bottle that he kept with him at all times. He sniffed the fumes released as he opened the cap, sighing in happiness.

"Hey, sensei, what's in the bottle?"

His eyes widened and looked at her in bewilderment, having trouble containing his shock.

"Huh? You've never seen mayonnaise before?" She shook her head and perked up as she waited for further explanation. He recited the words of his soul.

"Here is the god of all food, Mayonnaise. It will bring out the fruitful flavours of delight in any dish, but its creaminess is perfect on its own." He looked at her, who was staring at the bottle with intense curiosity.

She scrutinized him while he added the mayonnaise liberally to his ramen with the skills of an artist. The swirls were precise from all the years of practice to perfect his art. He ended it with a flick, and he felt proud of his work, sitting in its gloopy glory.

"The Hijikata special: ramen edition." He whispered for the effect.

Nachi looked at it in awe.

She turned to him. "And you eat that?"

"And then I eat it." He lifted the bowl to his face and scooped it into his mouth.

As he slurped his food, he tried peeking at her from the corner of his eye. She was totally fixated with him. He tried ignoring her, but it was too distracting for him to eat with her gawking at him. He put his bowl down.

"I want to try it."

He had to stop himself from beaming at her. "You serious?"

"Aaaaaaaaahh." She opened her mouth expectantly.

Always a catch with this woman, he scowled, the pure excitement burning within him dimmed instantly. "I am not feeding you."

"Aaaaai caaant eeeeear ooooo"

He dug up a large spoonful of mayonnaise and ramen and stuffed it in her open mouth. "There. Now please choke."

She chewed it, the sounds of the mayonnaise sloshing in her mouth completely distinct.

She swallowed.

"So?" He folded his arms, and attempted to look indifferent about the matter as he peeked at her.

Her face rearranged itself into an expression of deep consideration. She stroked her chin and nodded to herself. She licked the mayonnaise that was on still her lips from Hijikata's forceful feeding, and then took a bite of her crêpe.

His jaw dropped. "Why are you ruining the taste of my Hijikata special with your diabetes incarnate?!"

"Hijikata special tastes better with a bit of sugar." She pushed her crêpe towards him. "Try it."

"No way." He looked to the roof, muttering a small prayer of forgiveness to the God of Mayo.

"Geez, you're never any fun." She stuffed the rest of her crêpe in her mouth, her cheeks puffed out from the amount of food. She chewed slowly, focusing on not choking on it. Hijikata finished off his food before anyone started to pay attention to the idiot he had on tow.

"Paaah" Nachi exhaled happily, wiping her face to rid it of any food residue.

"Come on, let's get out of here before you can embarrass me more."

Nachi grabbed his shoulders before he could make a move, and pushed her lips on his, slipping her tongue inside his mouth. She let it play with his for a little before jumping back. He stared at her blankly, a small blush spreading on his face as he looked around to see if anyone saw. The ramen shop owner looked away too quickly and he was obviously smirking. He turned to the culprit, who was grinning widely, handing money to the owner.

She winked at him. "Keep the change." She grabbed dumbstruck Hijikata's hand and pulled him out of the store. As she yanked at his arm, he realised that he enjoyed the sweetness on his tongue.

He regained his senses as they left the store, letting her hand go and whacked her with a closed fist.

"Ow! That one really hurt Hijikata-sensei." She rubbed her head, her eyes tearing up a little while she gave him a self-pitying grimace.

"You need to stop doing whatever you want and think before you act. The Shinsengumi has no room for a selfish child." He snarled, and strode off without her. She ran after him and grabbed on his sleeve. The glare he shot at her faltered when he noticed that she refused to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I know I pushed you a little too far this time." She let go of his sleeve. Hijikata just stood there as she shuffled dejectedly ahead of him. He could smell her trap, and he had a duty to protect the image of the Shinsengumi, but he couldn't watch her without feeling a little guilty. '_Maybe just for one day, to stop her sulking.'_ He didn't like how that it felt like an excuse. She was pretty far up the road before he decided to catch up with her.

"Why is someone like her allowed to be cute as well?" he grumbled as he jogged to her side. He slipped his fingers through hers. Nachi looked up at him. He was staring ahead, his eyebrows furrowed and he wore a frown, but she could see that his cheeks were reddened. "If you walk close to me, no one will notice."

She couldn't stop herself laughing at him trying to pull off a scowl. She squeezed his hand and broke into a sprint, hauling him behind her.


	8. The Past Can Be Heavy

They spent the rest of the afternoon going through the stores throughout the town; mostly sweet stores that Nachi wanted to try. After Hijikata had stopped her from dislocating his shoulder from her pulling, they strolled side by side with their hands subtly grasped, until she saw another store and ran off towards it, forgetting about his overly abused arm as she tugged him along. Nachi whined at him to take her to see Otae, so they ended up drinking at the cabaret club. Nachi slammed down the drinks quickly with Otae, while Hijikata sipped at his while watching her disapprovingly. At one point Kondo tried to join them, but Otae swiftly knocked his presence away, much to the enjoyment of the now tipsy Nachi.

By the time Hijikata was able to drag her away from the club, the sun was long gone, and the streets were lit up to fend against the night. As a result of Nachi's incessant demanding, they somehow ended up in another park. They walked towards one of the benches, slightly hidden by the protective shadow of one of the trees.

"You really are a top-notch nuisance. They probably let you become a cop so they could keep you under their 24-hour surveillance." He flung himself onto the bench, worn out from being dragged by a woman with the energy gauge of a final boss. Nachi had made herself comfortable against him and was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Hijikata-sensei?" Her soft words broke Hijikata out of his stupor. He couldn't even remember how long they had just sat there without uttering a word; it could've been hours or even just minutes.

"What is it?"

"Have you ever loved someone?"

His whole body tightened up at the words, he couldn't even turn his head to look down at her and force out a response.

She giggled, "You really are quite innocent, sensei." He could feel her move her head from his shoulder as she sat up and exhaled.

"I loved a man once." After a few moments of silence passed, he braved a sneaky glimpse at her. She was looking up to the sky, as if she was searching for something not within her range of sight.

"He was my sensei, like you." She continued on, a gentle smile on her lips. "He was the Chief of the elite police force in my town. I was the vice-chief." She paused for a moment, wringing her hands on her lap. "We were to be married." He frowned a little at her words, turning his head so he could see her properly as she spoke.

"We grew up together. Our parents were in the police force together, so we were allowed to practice with swords even after the Amanto came, under the pretence that our parents were training us to succeed them."

"My town isn't as large as Edo, so the Amanto didn't have much trouble settling in. No one even thought of stopping them. We were a mining town before they came, as our mines contained many precious jewels. But the Government sold the mines to the invaders as the price for peace. Now we are just a trading town for them, mainly imports from other planets, but for the exports, we had to reluctantly hand them the jewels the miners worked so hard for. Because of this, there were many people who hoarded them illegally, so it was our job as the police force to reclaim them for the Government."

Her gaze shifted to her feet. "I never knew life without the Amanto, and I was too young to understand the pain of the adults around me, so all I cared about was practicing with my sword with Ryley."

Nachi finally turned to look at him. "You noticed that my fighting style left my back exposed didn't you? That's because the fighting style can only be completed with two people." She dropped her eyes from his gaze as she laughed softly at the memory. "It's a fighting style we developed as we grew up."

She turned away from him. "Ryley was a better swordsman that I was, so he made up most of the techniques derived from our parent's style. I told him I wanted to dance freely through meadows that were all but unheard of to me other than in stories my parents told me, so he made our style look as if we were dancing together."

"I had progressed fast as a child, so when I was barely a teenager, I was forced by the Government to join my parent's side to protect the town." Her lips turned into a grimace.

"I was scared, so I hid in our dojo. I was curled up into a ball and crying when Ryley found me. He had brought me a gift to celebrate my recruitment. He had already been drafted a few years earlier than me."

"The gift he brought me was a sword he'd made. It was the same shape as his own sword, and the sheath was painted with rabbits and cherry blossoms." A bright smile lit her face.

"The sword was too long for me, but he told me not to worry, that by the time I have grown into a beautiful woman, the sword would be the perfect size. He then promised that we would find the meadow I have dreamed of seeing, and we would dance there until we grew old and died, and then our souls would dance there forever."

She turned to grin at him, but he was unconvinced that it was genuine. "My sword's name is 'The melody of a woman who is loved.', and his was 'The harmony of a man sworn to protect'. Later our fighting style was named 'The dance of the souls of two lovers'." She laughed, but it was a miserable sound. "Thinking back on it, it's kind of lame."

She inhaled and exhaled slowly as she pushed on. "After a few years, our parents had retired, and we finally took their place. We were respected by the force, and known for our thorough but beautiful extermination method. The town was slowly but surely rid of all threatening groups, and the townsfolk were too scared to even think of hoarding. Ryley and I were planning on leaving the force as soon as we could be reassured that the town was out of harm's way." Her eyes sunk, and her smile she'd been wearing left.

"The Government had stolen from the Amanto, taking money, merchandise and other goods. The Amanto didn't want the government to know they knew of their betrayal, as that would mean they couldn't profit off us anymore, so they sent in vigilante gangs to attack Government officials to scare them."

"We protected the Government for another couple of years, and our recruits were growing tired of the continuous fighting. I had to stay strong for them, even though I had wanted to leave with Ryley. The Amanto had also grown restless with the waste of resources. So they decided cut their losses."

She tried smiling at him, but her lips were trembling. "I had left the town on an errand for the Force, and I came back to everything I had ever known gone." Her grip on her hands tightened. She stopped speaking for a few minutes; she had closed her eyes and focused on composing herself.

She bit her lip and exhaled. "That was six months ago. I had lied clutching my sword in the spot where our dojo once stood for what I thought was forever, but it had only been a week. After that, I frantically searched for those responsible for the demolition of my whole world." Her expression hardened, her eyes seemed to burn with a freshly remembered hatred.

"I found them in a neighbouring town, now planning on sucking its worth dry now that they left ours to float as ash."

She closed her eyes. "I killed them all and ran. They aren't as important as the Amanto officials here, so their deaths were not bothersome to anyone."

"I travelled around my own country for a while, usually scavenging through the towns, or doing simple chores for anyone who would hire me."

"I refused to draw the sword my dead love gave me."

"Out of the blue, I decided I wanted to move to Edo. I wanted to see the town where it all began. Where people were still fighting the invaders and as a result, were now fighting each other. My demons were gone, but my burden never left, weighing down my shoulders as always. The heaviness stayed with me throughout my journey."

She gave him a guilty grin. "I joined the Shinsengumi to calm my bloodthirsty soul whispering to me to destroy, but also to nurture the souls of all of those precious to me, telling me to protect. In a sense, I'm using you for my own selfish desires, to conduct the search for something worthy for me to protect."

Hijikata looked down. She had clutched her hands so hard that her nails were digging into her skin, leaving small droplets of blood. He placed a hand on hers, and leaned down to meet her mouth with his. Their lips moved gently in unison, sharing the emotions hidden by their own stubbornness. He broke it off, and looked directly at her.

"Your burdens will never leave you, not until the moment you die. They are heavy, but the weight will strengthen your soul, giving your sword the ability to strike harder." He gave her a sly smirk. "And if you keep on prancing around drunk, instead of protecting anyone; it'll be me needing to protect you."

"I need someone to protect me FROM you." She turned away from him, folding her arms in a huff. He chuckled as he stood up, but she jumped onto his back, knocking them both to the ground. He wrapped his arms around her legs and stood back up, Nachi now in piggy back position.

"Let's get Kondou to halt his stalking duties to take us home."

They were swallowed by the crowds as they stepped back onto the streets. The way he could just blend in even though he carried a woman on his back felt pleasant to Hijikata. He guessed that no one would guess that someone like him would engage in public affection.

Nachi dug her head into his shoulder.

"Hey, Hijikata-sensei? Am I anything like Okita-nee?" Her voice muffled a little.

He didn't even question why she knew. "You're very nosy aren't you?" He smirked. "You're nothing like her. She was gentle and beautiful..OW"

Nachi bit his shoulder. "That's not very nice, sensei. I have self-esteem problems." She pouted.

"Then why bother asking?" He snickered. "Am I anything like Ryley?"

She laughed. "You're nothing like him. He was a kind sensei. He hated smoking, he didn't eat food topping excessively, he never hit me when I sassed him.."

"Oi, aren't you just naming things that I do?" She tried muffling her giggles into his shoulder.

"I won't hesitate throwing you off my back if you don't behave." She stopped, strengthening her grip on him in case he threw her off anyway as they continued down the road.

They stole Kondou's patrol car and finally got back to Headquarters. The men were hanging around all over the place. Feeling the wear of the day, they sneaked back to their room. They both flopped onto the tatami mats, sighing in relief in harmony.

Nachi wriggled herself over to Hijikata and crawled over him. She laid her head on his chest, then twisting herself around so that her head rested on his stomach. Discontent, she rolled off.

"Hijikata-sensei, you're not comfortable at all." She whined while whacking him.

"I'm not a freaking pillow; you can't just fluff me up." He pushed her up with his feet using a combination of pushes and kicks. "Lay the futons down then."

Nachi muttered some nasty words under her breath as she threw the futons on the ground, setting them up next to each other. She tried to glare at him, but her lips couldn't contain her smile.

"It's not as if I wanted to sleep next to you or anything, there was just no room because you wouldn't move your lazy ass." She huffed as she turned off the light and lay across both of the futons.

"It's a bit too far into the story for you to act cute, so stop it." He scowled. He pushed her aside and slipped under the blankets. She dived under her own blankets. She fidgeted, popping her head up and resting it on her pillow.

"Why did you tell me about your past?" Nachi turned towards the noise.

She considered the question for a minute. "Doesn't it just seem sad to think I might die without anyone knowing anything about me? Not that my past really matters." She smiled at him sheepishly. "You're also my precious sensei, so if there was one person I want to know me, it's you."

"You shouldn't say such morbid things. Students are supposed to outlive the sensei."

Her face turned serious. "I don't want that. I want us both to live a long life." Her expression was softened by a sad smile. "The weight of your death would be too heavy for me to carry alone."

"Idiot," He reached over and pulled her against him, wrapping his arm tightly around her shoulders and his head rested against hers, "if that's what you want, trust me when I say that I won't die. And if there is ever a time where I can't protect you, I will trust you when you say that you won't die either."

Nachi placed a hand on his chest, feeling his strong heart beat against her fingers, the rhythm comforting her as much as his words.

"Thanks for taking me out sensei, it was a fun date."

He scowled, "It wasn't a date. I was just following orders."

She responded to the comment with a soft snicker, trailing off as she fell asleep with her hand resting on his heart.


	9. You Shouldn't Talk With Your Mouth Full

The coolness of the night had settled in as Nachi walked around the town by herself. She had been with the Shinsengumi for over a month now, and was on her way to get a few drinks with Gin and Hasegawa at Otose's. She was feeling stiff after the training with Hijikata the other day. She always complained that he pushed her too hard, but he would just yell at her until she stopped. The amount of raids had increased during the month as well. She was glad that she could end a week of hard work with a bit of drunken fun.

Some of the stores she often went in were starting to recognise her, calling out to her to pay a visit. She waved at them, but was hell-bent on getting to the sake that was waiting for her. She had convinced Hijikata to have a few with her once he had finished night patrol. She chuckled at the thought of him and Gin getting into their usual fights, which was now one of her favourite forms of entertainment.

"Nachi-san, would you like to stop for some dango?" The dango shop owner yelled from across the street.

She faltered, feeling her stomach growl, begging her to be fed some food. _'But sake…but sweets…."_ Her head hurt from the internal struggle against her base instincts.

"Wah, I'll take 3 serves to go please!"

She chewed on her dango guiltily, but was now fully focused on getting to Otose's before she accumulated an armful of food. She sped past people on the street, trying her best to avoid any unnecessary movements or collisions that would slow her down.

A hand shot of nowhere and grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alleyway. She wrenched her arm away, her hand instantly going towards the hilt of her sword. With her mouth full of dango, she assessed the situation. There was a group of 12 men, each with a sword out and ready. _'Joui?'_ She couldn't tell; they could easily be a gang.

"Hey, nee-chan. Why don't you come have some fun, and play with the big boys?" One of the men piped up as he sauntered towards her. The rest of them snickered.

She drew her sword and swallowed the dango. "You dare go against the cutest member of the Shinsengumi?" She leered, a vicious smile spread across her face. "You couldn't handle my kind of games. My favourites are the ones where I can lick your blood off my sword."

"The only blood you'll be tasting is your own." The man motioned, and the other men charged towards her. She leaped towards them, slashing down on her first opponent. She swivelled on her foot as soon as she landed, spinning herself and her sword. A few of the men stepped backwards in time, but one wasn't so lucky. His blood splattered across her face. She licked her lips and looked down.

"You splattered blood on my dress. I have a date tonight as well." She glared at them as they surrounded her, their swords pointing at her. "It'll be your fault if he gets angry at me for ruining the dress he bought me."

She side-stepped a sword slicing down where she once stood, and hit the man's temple with the butt of her sword. She grabbed the knocked out man and pushed him in the path of the men in front of her. She ran up and jumped off the limp body, flying over the wall of men. She twisted around and slicing one in the back. She flicked her gaze from side to side as the men stepped away from her. The man who she assumed was the leader smiled.

"Oh I do love a woman who can fight. Unfortunately, I can't watch you waste my men any longer." He took out his sword and ran towards her. She didn't have enough time to blink before he moved into a forward jab. Similar to her first training session, she placed her sword in the incoming weapon's path, blocking before it hit. The man leapt forward, smacking Nachi in the chin with his elbow. She was able to block the follow-up jab with a hard swing, but it sliced into her side. She winced as she readied her body for the landing.

She tumbled as her knees failed to hold her weight. Her eyes widened in surprise as her vision blurred. She cursed as she tried lifting herself up, but her shivering muscles wouldn't follow her command.

"Poison is such a beautiful thing, especially when you pair it with a beautiful woman." The man bent down next to her, sneering at the sword still clenched in her hand, and grabbed her face.

She spat in his face. "A man who can lace his sword with poison is someone who has no right to look upon beauty." He threw her face against the ground. She coughed, a dribble of blood leaking from her mouth. He kicked her hard in the stomach. She grit her teeth, willing herself to not make a sound as the man continued to kick her.

"I told you that you'd be tasting your own blood tonight. I'll give you an antidote in time too. A man is nothing if he can't keep his promises."

She tried keeping her eyes open, but it was useless. Her limbs wouldn't obey her, she was too tired. The only thing she could do while her body was lulled into an unwanted unconsciousness was to cling to her sword, and hold onto the memory of his face as he whispered those reassuring words to help her sleep. "I won't die, Toushirou." A pained whisper slipped from her lips as her mind was thrown into the abyss.


	10. You Really Shouldn't Litter

"Have you heard anything?" Gin was slurping at his chocolate parfait. Hijikata glowered at him.

"Nothing that we didn't know before." He clenched his hands into fists, resisting the urge to hit the noisy bastard sitting opposite him.

"She's been gone for almost a week. You have more chance of finding her in a body bag floating in the river than finding where they took her." He flicked his gaze to him as he licked the insides of his glass clean.

When Hijikata arrived at the bar after his shift and Nachi wasn't there, he went searching around the town. He received helpful information from the dango shop owner, and that's how he found the alleyway. The only thing he found was the bodies of four men, and Nachi's sword. From the blood sprayed along the ground and the corpses, he deduced that she must have fought a large group. He didn't want to think of the reason why they ambushed her.

"Shut up." Snapping out of his stupor.

Gin stared at him. "I've been hearing whispers about one of the extremist groups getting a hold of a sweet prize. It could be about Nachi or maybe not, they are just rumours after all."

"The Shinsengumi was ordered to stop looking after the second day. Kondo ordered me to stop looking the other day." He threw a wad of bills at Gin. "You know what I want."

"I don't know where you seem to be getting all this money. The Government pays you too much while you push your work onto others, Hijikata-kun."

He smirked. "You're wrong. This is just the money she won from rigging bets with Sougo. She's not very good at hiding her belongings."

"Well if you find her, make sure to bring her to me first thing. She owes me a drink."

"Don't screw with me. You know that she paid for every drink that you stuffed into your gaping hole while she was with you."

Hijikata left Gin sitting in the booth. He had to leave before the words that were threatening to crawl up his throat left his mouth; that he'd almost given up hope finding Nachi.

Before he knew it, his body had already taken him back to the alleyway that stunk of blood. He had walked this path many times, drawn to the place where he knew she was last. He walked into the depths of the closed off walls, his eyes boring into the blood stains, now sunken deep into the concrete. He had found her sword lying close to the smallest stain of them all. His mind instantly calmed as he gazed upon it. Minutes passed as his eyes stayed locked on that one reassuring spot. He sighed, and turned around to the dirty alleyway, knowing he'll be back again soon.

"Toushi, wake up." Kondou was standing over him.

Hijikata rubbed his eyes as he lifted himself up from his futon. The grim expression on Kondou's face caused him to frown.

"What is it?"

Kondou placed a hand on his shoulder, he squeezed it a little in what was supposed to be reassuring, but all it did was cause his heart to throb painfully. Kondou motioned for him to follow as he let go of his shoulder and walked out of the room. Hijikata followed, clenching his fists and his breath held.

The men were surrounding the front gate, a few of them running back towards headquarters. Hijikata noticed they were carrying sopping towels of blood. He looked at Kondou, who just nodded at him. Hijikata ran forward, pushing the men out of the way. The crowd finally broke and he stood in front of the cause of the commotion.

A body was leaning against the front gate, surrounded by blood. Her body was mostly exposed to the weather, only a few ragged strips of cloth covered her breasts and her hips, clinging to her sweat. Her skin was littered in a mosaic of painful colours; the darkest ones wrapped around her arms and legs as if phantom hands were gripping at her, and a large one draped along her side. There were long, perfectly horizontal cuts splitting her stomach open, dribbling a continuous river of blood into the puddle on the ground. Her face was mostly untouched, but a few cuts and bruises spread across her jaw and cheeks. The wound that caught Hijikata's eyes was a large one that covered the majority of the lower part of her stomach. There was a series of festering burns, causing the damaged skin to rise painfully, leaking transparent fluids from what looked like to be infected flesh. He bit his tongue to hold back the anguish he could feel cloud his vision. The burns formed a single word. He fell to his knees and grasped at her limp hand. His heart almost burst as he felt a slight pulse fighting to push blood through her body. He lifted his face so he could look at the one place they had left alone. The morning light gave her face an almost peaceful appearance if it wasn't for her lips pulled into a tight frown, a small trail of dried blood leading from the corners, similar to the trickle of blood dripping from his own mouth. He turned to the closest recruit to him, who stepped back hesitantly.

"Why the hell is she not at the hospital already?"

"The blood transfusion was successful. We gave her some antibiotics for the infection and it seems to be settling down." The nurse frowned. "We also fixed up the internal tearing, and there won't be any lasting damage besides the scars from the cuts. She should be able to leave in two days if she wakes up." She looked at the unconscious girl with sad eyes. "I don't understand how anyone could treat a person like this, it's horrible. At least she's doing well though." She tried to smile at him, but he didn't even turn to face her. Kondou walked towards the nurse and smiled at her.

"Don't mind him, thank you for your hard work." As he walked past her, the nurse quickly left the room, hiding her tears.

He stood beside where Hijikata was sitting, his eyes turning to the crumpled piece of paper in Hijikata's hand.

"Now that we know which group did this to her, we can focus all our attention to finding them." His voice was gruff with anger, but he was ignored. "I expect to see you back at headquarters later, understand?" He turned around and left him.

He slowly un-crumpled the worn paper and absorbed the words written on it.

_'We got tired of playing with her, so we decided to return her. You can decide whether to keep her or to put her down. I can understand why the demon vice-chief allowed her in the pack, but next time you should protect her better. You should taste her blood; it's so sweet it was sickening. I hope to cross swords with you sometime soon. Tainted blood Faction.'_

He threw the paper over his shoulder and placed his head in his hands. He looked up as he heard the rustling of the paper being picked up.

"You shouldn't litter Hijikata-kun, especially next to someone's hospital bed." Gin grabbed a chair and placed it next to his. His gaze landed on Nachi, moving back to Hijikata. "I found their hideout."

"Where is it?"

"To the west, on the outskirts of town there's an abandoned junkyard that used to deal with recycling large machinery. They have a stronghold of over a hundred men. The leader's name is Waru Iyatsu. He's known for his less than honourable methods of fighting. You won't be able to take them on alone."

He looked at Nachi's sword leaning against her bed. He thought that she would've liked to see it that it was safe when she woke up. The hilt was still stained from the times she grasped it too hard.

"I wasn't planning to. There is only one head I want lying at my feet, but I wouldn't mind too much if there was a hundred either."

He gave Gin a bundle of bills.

"Buy her as many sweets as that can pay for once she wakes up. And maybe a new dress, she ruined her last one."

Gin smirked and shook his head. "I might not be able to do that. I'm not the type that spoils women when I can buy my own sweets and gamble with the rest."

Hijikata turned to Gin. "Well then I just might have to kill you." He sneered.

Gin chuckled as he was left alone with Nachi. He patted her hand. "I'll make sure he's able to keep that promise."


	11. Protect Them While You're Still Alive

The night was eerily absent of noise as Hijikata arrived at the place specified by Gin. The light of the city didn't reach this far, and he was grateful for that, the moon lending enough light for him to see. The gates to the junkyards were thick bars of metal with barbed wire lining the top, a heavy duty lock and chained wrapped around. He drew his sword and broke the lock without much resistance. The metal clattered noisily to the ground. He held his breath, listening to anything that would indicate he'd been spotted. Nothing. He exhaled and slipped through the gates.

The yard was scattered with broken-down parts of what used to be large machines, creating perfect places for him to hide behind. The place was fairly large, and he was starting to think that he'd been misinformed. He swiftly moved towards the next spot, when he tripped over something. He composed himself and pointed his sword at the offending item. It was a body. He frowned in confusion as he nudged it with his foot. The man was dead, attacked from behind with a sword. He didn't understand what happened but at least it confirmed that the place wasn't abandoned, so he moved on.

Every now and then he would spot another body, taken out in the same way as each other. He concluded that he wasn't alone, when he heard a pained scream, followed by yells for reinforcement. He sped ahead to the source of the noise.

Hijikata's eyes widened in shock at the scene that was unfolding. A woman was being surrounded by four men. She danced around the blades slashing at her, easily dispatching them one by one.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Hijikata ran to Nachi's side. She turned towards him, her eyes half-closed and panting heavily. A few of her wounds had opened, the blood soaking through her clothes. Her sword hung heavily by her side. She beamed at him.

"I knew you would be somewhere around here, Hijikata-sensei." Her words were light-hearted but her tone hinted that she was holding back the pain she was in. "I beat you here so I thought I should get started."

Before he could chastise her, the reinforcements charged towards them. Nachi took her stance and sprinted towards them. He followed her, striking down those trying to take advantage of her weakened state by charging in all at once. Hijikata slashed the last one down the front of his torso. Nachi had stopped to try and catch her breath. He grabbed her face, his sword clattering to the ground as he forced her to look at him.

"I want you to leave, right now." He growled. She tried to shake her head but he refused to let her do the movement. "This is an order."

"I refuse to follow such an order, sensei. I came here on a mission and I will not leave until I have finished." She glared at him, wriggling her head around in an attempt to loosen his grip.

"What mission? You're in no state to be doing anything."

Her glare changed into a warm smile. "To protect my burden. I heard everything you and Gin-san talked about while you were in my hospital room."

"I thought I told you to stop pretending to be knocked out, idiot!" He head-butted her. He sighed as he rested his forehead against hers. "You're the one who is the burden in this situation. Please leave."

"I won't, unless you leave too."

"Unfortunately I won't be letting either of you leave." Hijikata let Nachi's head go and quickly picked his sword up, looking for the voice that spoke.

They were surrounded by a large crowd, and estimate of around 100, just from what he could see. A single man stepped out from the crowd, and from the disgusted look that spread onto Nachi's face that he could see in the corner of his eye, he assumed that he was Waru Iyatsu.

Waru spoke. "I have waiting to meet you, vice-chief Hijikata, but I am surprised that you brought your bitch with you." He laughed at the double set of glares shot at him by the two of them. "You really should keep dogs on a leash."

"You should know by now that I'm the type of dog that bites the fingers of anyone trying to leash me down." Nachi piped up, her teeth bared into a nasty smile.

"Oh I do know." He looked at Hijikata. "You know, she refused to let a single sound of pain out of her mouth, only speaking to yell curses at the men," He sighed happily at the memories. "Even when we carved her pretty skin and beat her. Even when each of my men had a go with her. It's always much more fun when they fight back." He sauntered towards them, keeping his eyes locked with Hijikata's. "Oh but she did have a bit of trouble holding onto her howls when we dug that hot poker into her flesh. The smell.."

Hijikata didn't let him finish his sentence as he flung himself at him. The man had pulled out his sword just in time to block his attack.

"You better shut your filthy mouth, before I cut your tongue out and stuff it down your throat." Hijikata snarled at him, enjoying the sight of the man's eyes dilating in fear.

"Sensei, his sword is laced with a tranquilising poison. Don't get cut by it!" Nachi yelled.

Waru laughed shakily. "You should be more worried about yourself, Shinsengumi bitch." He turned to his men. "Hurry up and kill her."

Just as the men were about to charge, they were thwarted by an ambush.

"It's the Shinsengumi!" one of the Joui screamed as they were struck down by the arriving men.

"Don't be afraid, we can easily trump them with our numbers. Let us claim the honour of destroying them!" Waru yelled, pushing Hijikata back with his sword. He jumped back as Hijikata waited for the right moment to strike.

"How does it feel to watch your precious Shinsengumi fall around you over a woman?"

"You must be joking, it'll take more than just a hundred men to destroy us." He chuckled.

Waru glared at him in disgust. "Don't underestimate us. Our bushido is a strong enough fuel to annihilate you and the corrupt government that you fight for."

He held onto his glare as he smirked. "We might be honour bound to protect the Bakufu, but we are fighting a battle more important than the petty war between you Joui and the Government."

He snorted in disbelief. "What could be more important than the wellbeing of your country? You call yourself samurai, yet you say you could care less about the land you live in."

"It's the people that make a country. The country that my soul fights to protect is the one that fights alongside of me." He smiled at the thought. "My Edo consists of a bunch of rowdy, stubborn men, and an even rowdier, stubborn woman. Their burden gives me a reason to fight and survive."

"That isn't something that a police officer should be saying." He ran at him.

"I don't want to hear that from someone whose name is a bad pun!" Hijikata launched himself at him, his sword positioned to pierce his heart.

Waru sidestepped his attack, striking down towards his back. Hijikata twisted his body out of the way and blocked the incoming strike as he landed. He pushed Waru's sword slightly, giving himself enough time to slash his sword horizontally at his stomach. He missed his mark as Waru jumped backward, bringing his sword around to strike at his side.

Hijikata promptly pulled his sword close to his body in time to block the incoming sword, but he didn't notice Waru snap back his arm and punched him in the face. His nose crunched under the impact, his head snapping back from the force. He let out a growl, dropping his sword and lunged at him. He dug a fist into his stomach following it by punching his mouth, revelling the sounds that his fist made against his face. Waru grunted in pain but Hijikata continue to smash his fists into his face, not giving him a chance to strike back.

Hijikata jumped back to where his sword lay, his fists now dripping with Waru's blood. He picked up his sword, and ran towards Waru, who was still composing himself from his relentless beating. Hijikata let out a yell as he slashed his sword along Waru's legs leaving a trail of blood following the tip of his sword. Waru's legs gave way under his weight, causing him to crash to the ground. Before he could slice at him, Hijikata stepped on the hand holding his sword.

"It's over Waru. I really just want to yank your heart out with my bare hands, but as the Vice-Chief, I'll give you the choice to surrender."

"I'd never bow down to a mutt. You and that woman will die a dog's death, by my hands or by the hundreds of other factions out for your blood." Waru hissed, secretly pulling out a knife out of his pocket.

He made a grunt of pain as a sword pierced his heart from behind. He looked down at the sword sticking grotesquely out of his body, the metal a glittering ruby red in the moonlight.

"One day I might die a dog's death. But for today, I'll show you what it's like for free." Nachi pulled her sword out from his back. She lifted her sword, licking the blood off the flat of her blade. She crinkled her nose in distaste. "It really does taste like poison."

"Oi, you just stole my one-liner space." He scowled at her. "I had something really cool to say too."

She turned to him and lifted an eyebrow. "Oh really? What were you going to say?"

"I can't just tell you, it would just sound stupid now!"

She smirked. "Oh stop sulking, I'm sure there'll be plenty of other times to use your 'cool' one-liners."

He turned as a couple of Joui ran towards them.

Before he had a chance to attack them, Nachi had already jumped in and quickly slashed them across the stomachs before they had a chance to strike down on her.

She grinned at him. "I'll get kidnapped again so you can use one of your passionate one-liners that sounds cool but also wins the princess' heart." She held her hand out to him.

He walked up to her and grasped it. "I still don't think you have a heart, and that just sounds like too much work for me." He sneered. "This time don't run ahead of me."

They ran into the ongoing battle around them together. Nachi leapt from opponent to opponent, her strikes sweeping up any attacks and sliced back down as they were left open. Hijikata followed her movements, his brute strength breaking the swords aimed towards him, allowing Nachi to twist around and finish them with a clean strike to their stomachs. They covered each other's mistakes and combining their technique to move through the opponents efficiently.

Most of the Joui were wiped out during the Shinsengumi's initial ambush, but once they had joined in, it didn't take long to completely finish them off.

It took a little while for Nachi and Hijikata to find Kondou and Okita. Nachi waved and called out to them. Okita walked up to them and smacked them both with a rolled up newspaper. "Bad dogs. You don't run off your leash without your owner's permission."

Nachi saluted him. "Yes Master Okita-senpai, I am sorry." Nachi turned to Hijikata, looking at him expectantly.

"There's no way in hell I'm repeating that."

Okita turned to her, ignoring the glowering Hijikata. "Did you do it?"

She placed her hands on her hips and grinned proudly "Yes I did."

He cursed, pulling out his wallet.

"What was the bet this time?" Hijikata groaned.

She winked at him. "He reckoned I couldn't ruin one of your one-liners."

"How do you even think of these stupid bets?!"

Kondou chuckled as placed an arm around Nachi and Hijikata.

"Sougo's right, you shouldn't have ran off on your own. We might not have made it in time if the Yorozuya boss didn't get to me when he did. We were worried about you two." Nachi looked around as her new brethren gathered around them. Their yells were muffled by each other, but she could hear the concern in their voices. She sniffled and broke out of Kondou's embrace to turn to her new family.

"I'm sorry for making you worry!" She shouted, trying to overpower their yells. "As compensation, I'll let you have a peek at my tits!" Cheers broke out around her.

"Oh no you won't." Hijikata smacked her head, much to the amusement of the men. His smirk dropped when she fell to the ground. He dropped down and shook her. No response.

He sighed, lifting her in his arms. "You better not be pretending again."

"Don't worry, I'm not." She whispered.

"Someone take her off my hands before I kill her myself."

He walked towards the entrance. Everyone followed them, chatting together about the fight, boasting their kills and laughing at their blunders. Nachi tried to muffle the small giggle that left her mouth, overjoyed at the thought of having a new home.


	12. Try and Cry With a Smile on Your Face

"You better keep an eye on this one, in case she gets into any more trouble." The nurse's eyes narrowed as Nachi tried to look as innocent as possible. Her white button up shirt and her short red skirt helped the attempt, but it still failed miserably.

"I'll keep her under house arrest for the rest of her life." Hijikata threw a smirk at Nachi.

"That not fair, I've been stuck in that boring room for a week! I want a chocolate parfait." She pouted at him.

He shrugged. "It's your own fault for re-opening your wounds when you ran off.'

"But the nurse already punished me for that." Wincing and rubbing her head at the memory. "I bet you've been teaching the nurse bad habits."

The nurse laughed. "It worked though. It stopped you from running off, stealing extra sweets from the cafeteria and from picking at your scabs." She winked at Hijikata, and he gave her the thumbs up.

"You guys are mean. I'm never coming back." She ran off.

"I don't want to see you back here!" The nurse called out to her. She turned to him, wearing a small frown. "Please do look after her though. I don't know if she's as strong as she seems to be, and I would hate to see her change."

"You're worrying about her too much. She's much stronger than she looks, but an attitude change wouldn't hurt." He bowed to her. "Thank you for your hard work."

She waved away his thanks. "I'm just doing my job. Your role will be the one that requires real skill. Good luck."

He stared at Nachi peeking around the corner at them. "I'm going to need all the luck you have to spare."

Nachi hobbled out of the patrol car and stretched her arms out.

"Yay! I'm home!" She ran to the front gate and hugged the column. She rubbed her face against the cool stone. "Oh how I've missed you."

"Yeah, that's nice. Now stop rubbing yourself off on a slab of concrete and let's get you into bed." He grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her away.

"But I wanted to go get some sake." She muttered under her breath.

"The medication you were taking is still in your system, so it'll probably kill you if you drink sake." Her disappointment was pleasing to him as he dragged her inside Headquarters.

The place was empty, as everyone was either sleeping after a night shift or out on patrol. They finally arrived at their room. Nachi opened the door. She stood still for a minute in shock. She turned to Hijikata, tears welling in her eyes.

"You shouldn't have, sensei." Her voice cracked with happiness.

They aren't from me, they are from the silver-perm." She lunged towards the large stack of chocolate boxes, knocking the tower over. He shook his head at her as she tried to gather them all into her arms to hug them.

Nachi's expression changed suddenly, her dopey smile now a frown. She sat up and grabbed a box and shook it. Her eyes widened in rage.

"That bastard." Nachi grabbed one of the boxes and ripped it open.

He walked up to her, about to ask her what was wrong, but she looked up at him, tears dribbling from her eyes and her lip trembling. "He ate them."

They ripped open the boxes together. It was revealed that only one of the boxes still had chocolates remaining, with a little note inside.

_'Sorry, the dog and a teenage girl got into them, so I had to stop them by protecting them with my mouth. Get well soon so you can buy me some drinks. Love, your beloved Gin-chan.'_

"Hear my words as my witness, Hijikata-sensei. The next time I see Sakata Gintoki, I will rip out his gluttonous stomach and slap him with it.

"I have heard your words. As your sensei and your vice-chief, I will stand by you as you commit the act of revenge to uphold the honour of the Shinsengumi."

"Who does that bastard think he is? I'll arrest the sunovabitch." Nachi muttered under her breath as she stuffed chocolate into her mouth. Hijikata took a step back, the aura of crazy that was currently surrounding her creeping him out, but the dirty look she shot at him stopped in his place.

"Get over here and tell me that I'm right!"

Hijikata lay out her futon, straightening it out with his hands.

He glared at her. "Now get into bed."

Nachi obediently placed herself down, lifting her arms up as he placed her blanket over her. She twisted her head, shooting him a plead with her eyes. He grabbed a chocolate out of the box he now held and put it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and chewed it with a look of pure bliss.

He chuckled. "I should've thought of this weeks ago. Who knew she could be controlled so easily." He sat down next to her head.

"Hey, Hijikata sensei. Kondo-san told me you were really worried about me when I disappeared. Is that true?" He didn't like the smirk that she wore so he placed his hand on her face so he didn't have to look at it.

"I was more worried that you were wreaking havoc over innocent people. It was a public service to try and find you."

"I would have never guessed that, because you even paid Gin-san to find information on the Joui for you. You're pretty thorough with your job Vice-chief. I wish I was as dedicated as you." She snickered.

"How about I thoroughly destroy your existence?" He shoved her head into the ground, the floors creaking under the impact. He let her go, allowing her to inhale air.

"You're not very gentle with an injured person are you?"

"You don't act like an injured person, and you piss me off." He started eating the rest of her chocolate, blocking her attempts to stop him with his spare hand.

"That's way too cruel sensei." She pulled the blankets over her head. "I was even going to let you have your way with me!" She yelled, the blankets muffling the noise.

"The nurse told me that you're not allowed to do that either."

"That bitch just ruins anything that would be fun!" Kicking at the blankets as she engaged in a mini-tantrum.

"That's her job, and it's mine to enforce it since you're too much of an idiot to listen to her in the first place." He yanked the blanket off and crawled over her. Her lips were pulled down into a frown and she had a few tears welling in her eyes. "It's also my job to check to see if your wounds are healing up." Nachi gulped.

He leaned back, sitting lightly on her thighs as he started unbuttoning her shirt. He pushed the material aside, revealing her torso. He brushed her heaving breasts lightly from her black lace bra with his fingers, trailing them down her cleavage. He bent over her to follow the path with his mouth. He planted small quick kisses, listening to her giggles as they tickled her. Most of the little bruises had disappeared along her chest, so he moved on. He re-positioned himself so he could have a better view of her stomach. The cuts on her stomach had finally closed up, only leaving a long ridge of scar tissue. He began kissing the area around the cuts. He sat up as he reached her largest wound. Every time he saw it he could feel a surge of rage engulf him. He gently placed his hand along the thick scars in her flesh.

"Does it hurt?" He looked up.

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Not anymore."

He traced the wound with his finger. The surrounding skin was an angry red, but the swelling had finally gone. He finished spelling out the ugly word that she would have to wear forever. _Dog_.

He crawled back over her, planting a light kiss on her lips. He tried to smile.

"It seems like your wounds are healing well."

She pushed him off her and sat up. He landed on his back, his head missing the pillow and hitting the ground. He rubbed his head and turned to look at her.

"You're such an idiot, Toushirou-sensei." She growled as she glared at him.

He frowned in confusion, surprised that she actually looked genuinely upset. "What's your problem?"

"Do you think I'm that weak that I can't cope with a scar or two, or are you just feeling sorry for yourself that you couldn't swoop in and save the day?" She was fuming, her eyes boring holes into him.

He sat up and sneered. "You think too much of yourself. We stopped looking for you just a few short days after you disappeared. If they hadn't delivered you to our doorstep, we would have just written you off as dead."

"I know you didn't stop searching, sensei." She tried to hold his eyes into her glare, but he refused to oblige.

"You don't know anything Natou. You've only been here for a short time, and if you hadn't been all over me in public, you probably wouldn't have gotten into that mess in the first place. Stop being so presumptuous that the words you say will have any effect on me."

"You know what, I know it was my own fault, you don't need to drive that home. But I also know that you trusted me to hold on until you came, so that's what I did. If I wanted them to kill me, I would've asked them to when they stuck a hot poker into my stomach, because it was a pain that could only be described as something that would make a person beg to die." He winced at her harsh words, not noticing her grabbing his hand and placing against the burn. "This mark is only skin deep. Something like this could never taint my soul." She gave him a beatific smile, only ruined by the tears silently falling onto his hand. "This scar symbolises the place where I want to belong, with you and the Shinsengumi. Instead of loathing it, it's something that I treasure."

She buttoned her shirt as she stood up and left him sitting there, wondering whether he should wipe the wetness off his hands.


	13. Always Hold Onto Your Precious Things

Hijikata wandered aimlessly around the town, sucking on a cigarette. He felt comfortable back in his uniform, his hand resting on his sword. He let out a happy sigh, enjoying the peaceful lack of noise that usually came from that unreasonable woman's mouth. He shook his head in attempt to rid the image of Nachi, that sad smile, and the feeling of the tears that landed on his skin.

Somehow he ended up bumping into Gin. He looked as if he'd been through hell, with his left eye swelling up like a balloon.

"Man, what happened to you? Tripped over your hem while shuffling along?" He sneered, following it up with a small chuckle.

Gin shot a beady glare through his swollen eye. "Your pet psychopath came into the club, beat me and stole my sake, a full bottle too! You better pay me back for those losses before I charge her for assault."

Hijikata's eyes widened at the comment, ignoring Gin as he rattled of a list of things he wanted. "That stupid woman." He pushed past Gin and ran off.

He ran back and forth throughout the town searching for her. _'It had only been an hour since she took off, she couldn't have gotten too far'_. He checked all the places that she might be; Otose's, the park and the cabaret club again, but there was still no Nachi in sight.

He couldn't run anymore, panting heavily as he pushed through the crowds, searching for that familiar face. His body told him to stop and rest but he kept pushing. _'I won't stop until I find her.'_

He didn't realise where he was until he recognised the blood stains on the ground. A path he had followed enough times that his feet brought him here instantly, and that's where he found her.

She was just sitting there, leaning against the wall of the alleyway and playing with the bottle of sake in her hand.

He marched up to her and snatched it off her. The sake spilt over his hand from the movement. Confused, he tipped the bottle upside down. It splattered against his shoes. The bottle was full.

"I might not listen to the nurse, but a student must listen to her sensei." She looked up at him, a small grin playing on her lips. "You're a liar."

"And you're manipulative." He groaned as he fell down beside her.

Hijikata was wracking his brain trying to think of something to say to her, but she beat him to it.

"I'm sorry, sensei. I made a mess of everything, and I couldn't protect myself while I did it. I had no right to be mad at you." She wouldn't look at him, wearing a frown as she fidgeted around.

He shook his head. "The first thing I told you was that samurai clean up each other's messes, so if you failed, so did I by not following my own lessons."

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. He rubbed her arm, comforted by the warmth of her skin. With her resting against him; the pressure of her head now resting on his shoulder, her hands gripping at him as if she never want to let go, and the kind expression on her face as she looked up at him, he was filled with an odd sense of contentment.

He exhaled, letting the words that he held onto for so long out. "In my own stubbornness, I left the woman I loved alone, drawn by the illusion that my absence would protect her." He spoke slowly and deliberate, allowing the weight of his words to sink into his own memory. "But there was nothing I could do but watch as she slipped through my grasp, with nothing left but the guilt of my inability to protect anyone but myself." He moved his hand to rest on her head, stroking her hair lightly. "And once again, I failed at protecting something important." His lips turned up at the corners. "Even though she proves it to me that she doesn't need my protection, I still feel the urge to kill anyone who dares to hurt her."

Nachi frowned. "Maybe you should just never leave her side, and you'll never have to worry about being too late to play part of the knight in shining armour."

He chuckled. "It sounds so simple that it's idiotic."

She giggled, and moved her head to where his heart pounded against his chest. "All you have to do is stay as close as we are now."

"I can do that. As long as you can forgive me."

"You're forgiven. I'm just glad that you finally told me about Okita-nee." He could feel her smile against his chest. "Now we're even."

"Not quite." He lifted her chin up towards him and slipped his tongue past her lips. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed her tongue moving against his as she brushed a hand against his face. He moved away from her mouth, but she moved forward and nibbled and sucked at his bottom lip. He returned back in kind.

As their embrace ended, Nachi left her hand on his face, stroking it. He nuzzled against it and opened his eyes to look at her. Her beam was radiant, but was only dimmed by her eyes, which were brimming with warm emotion.

He moved his hand to the place where the burn he loathed so much sat. "You already belong in the Shinsengumi, and as my," he coughed, frowning as he attempted to cover the sudden embarrassment he felt. "as my student, you already belong with me."

She burst into laughter, causing him to blush. "Geez, Toushirou. Being cool really doesn't you does it?"

"I'll just ignore that." He scooped her up into his arms and jumped up. Nachi wrapped her arms around his neck, propping her head on his shoulder as he carried her out of the alleyway.

"Hey, wait. What were you paying me back for with that kiss?" She gave him a curious look.

He chuckled. "For eating your chocolate."

"Not accepted! You just tasted like cigarettes once again!"

"Now that you mention it," He lifted her up closer and stuck his tongue in her mouth for a second, tasting her tongue. He scowled at her once he pulled out. "You taste like booze."

She giggled, letting go of his neck in an attempt to protect her head. "I did say you were a liar didn't I?"

He dropped her on the ground unceremoniously and walked off while Nachi picked herself up and rubbed the dirt off. She ran after him, grasping his hand when she reached him. He let her swing his arm back and forth as she laughed happily as they walked home together.

* * *

**Yay! You finally reached the end! Good work! (except those people who skip all the other chapters and read the last...Oh yes, I am watching...) I really do hope you enjoyed this story. Please review and tell me your opinions, the good and the bad. Also, please review and tell me any ideas of sequels! Thanks for reading! **


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